November 2006 Archives

The greatest proof that someone is a developed person is that person's refined taste and subtlety based on his or her intelligence and wisdom. A person comes to be a philosopher when that person studies his or her environment and thereby learns to see his or her inner self. This very Ráŕh presented human society the first philosopher, who was none other than Maharshi Kapil. He wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery of creation and bring the causal factors of the universe within a framework of a theory of numbers. We in today's world cannot imagine how much self-confidence and inner daring it took for a person to do this. Maharshi Kapil was born in a certain place near Jhalda in Ráŕh. He came to the highest philosophical realization at Gangasagar, on the Bay of Bengal, at the furthest extremity of Samatat in Ráŕh.

MEENA (1956-1987) was born on February 27, 1956 in Kabul. During her school days, students in Kabul and other Afghan cities were deeply engaged in social activism and rising mass movements. She left the university to devote herself as a social activist to organizing and educating women. In pursuit of her cause for gaining the right of freedom of expression and conducting political activities, Meena laid the foundation of RAWA in 1977. This organization was meant to give voice to the deprived and silenced women of Afghanistan.

Yesterday I said something about history; I said that modern history usually deals with certain very common events such as when a certain king succeeded to the throne, or plundered a neighbouring country, or perpetrated atrocities on his subjects, or died, and so on. What benefit could common people possibly derive from studying such useless information? This is why they have no interest to study this sort of history at all. True history should be a faithful record of the entire human life.

The recognized definition of history is,

Iti hasati ityarthe itihásah.

That is, history is a resplendent reflection of collective life, whose study will be of immense inspiration for future generations. "Iti hasati" literally means, "the glowing example of glorious human dignity."

INDONESIA's relations with other countries could be affected if it adopted Islamic Sharia law which is being introduced in one province, a European Parliament delegation said today.

Hartmut Nassauer, head of the delegation of eight MEPs, said non-governmental organisations had raised concerns about Sharia law, which is being gradually introduced in Aceh province.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP): A strong majority of Venezuelans plan to cast their ballots for President Hugo Chavez on Dec. 3, with most saying the fiery opponent of President Bush has handled government and foreign relations well, according to an AP-Ipsos poll that revealed deep divisions along class lines.

MUMBAI, India -- A Tibetan independence activist set himself on fire Thursday outside the hotel where Chinese President Hu Jintao was courting Indian business leaders eager to boost trade between Asia's emerging giants.

The protester, Lhakpa Tsering, suffered only minor burns before police put out the flames and detained him and six other Tibetan activists.

The incident was a sign of increasing frustration among Tibetans in India who feel their cause has been abandoned by Indian officials eager to foster closer ties with China, which forcibly absorbed Tibet in 1950.

Throughout Hu's four-day visit, Indian authorities went to great lengths to make sure he was not confronted with any anti-Chinese sentiment, erecting tight police cordons and banning gatherings of more than five people in areas where he was traveling.

Editor's note: American history is repeatedly portrayed as a history containing a deep racism of white towards blacks. The following article claims that the incident said to mark the origin of a long post-slavery era of racism called "Jim Crow" was not really motivated by race, however, but by manipulation and propaganda designed to break black-white unity against the local capitalist class. If this story is true, it represents a necessary and significant revision of American history.

On Nov. 10, 1898, heavily armed columns of white men marched into the black neighborhoods of Wilmington [a town in the U.S. state of North Carolina - eds]. In the name of white supremacy, this well-ordered mob burned the offices of the local black newspaper, murdered perhaps dozens of black residents -- the precise number isn't known -- and banished many successful black citizens and their so-called "white nigger" allies. A new social order was born in the blood and the flames, rooted in what The News and Observer's publisher, Josephus Daniels, heralded as "permanent good government by the party of the White Man."

There was a great ocean, its surface agitated by rows of towering waves, an ocean which had neither name nor gotra [clan]. Who was there to name it, who was there to tell others about it? No one, because human beings had not yet come on earth. This was about 300 million years ago.(¹) [And as regards the land mass,] there was no name yet on earth for that arid, mountainous terrain, nor even yet a single grove of trees to which a name could be given.(²)

Milton J. Bennett has said that the key to the kind of communication needed by a pluralistic society is the development of intercultural sensitivity¹. He talks about "ethnorelative ethics," and brings up the point that many people equate being interculturally sensitive with being morally relative, or giving up one's individual ethical principles². In this connection Bennett brings up the Perry Scheme of Cognitive and Ethical Development, in which Perry has outlined a process through which people develop a worldview (weltanschauung) based on their life experiences. His model moves from a simple dualistic model (either-or thinking) to a "multiplicity" model, which implies that there is an infinite possibility of potential worldviews, again based on life experiences. From the "multiplicity" concept Perry moves on to "contextual relativism," which refers to judging actions according to their appropriate context (time, place and person)³.

Editor's note: Scandinavia, one of the most peace-loving regions in the world, has every right to protect itself against terrorism by Islamic radicals. At the same time, Scandinavian countries should be aware that their humanistic intentions may aid the aims of regional (Israeli) and global (American) dominance and suppression. Non-association with the current military campaign in Iraq in particular may be advised for that reason in order to remove just cause as a motive for terrorist action against any of the Scandinavian countries.

A popular Swedish proverb observes that "it is not the fault of one that two quarrel." This truism is increasingly reflected in the apparent deterioration of the security situation in Scandinavia, a region traditionally successful in adopting neutral positions during military conflicts, thereby guaranteeing relative peace.

Editor's note: Determined resistance against capitalist global trade policies has already begun in Latin America. The recent legislative elections in the United States show that this resistance is spreading to more developed industrial nations also. Fair trade on the basis of mutual benefit is at a minimum a better policy, not trade surpluses for some countries and trade deficits for others or "free" trade, which usually means only freedom for global corporations.

No Fair Trader Loses, 36 "Free" Trade Seats Flip

Trade Helped Put Democrats Over Top, Emerges as National Electoral Issue with More Than 25 Paid Ads and 115 Races Using Trade as Differentiator, Public Citizen Report Shows; Exit Polls Show Voters' Economic Anxiety a Top Concern

WASHINGTON, D.C. - From Florida to Hawaii and parts in between, pro-fair trade challengers Tuesday beat anti-fair trade incumbents, according to a report on the 2006 midterm results conducted by Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division. Incumbents who had voted for the U.S. trade status quo of NAFTA, WTO and Fast Track were replaced by those rejecting these failed policies and advocating improvement with 36 congressional seats (seven Senate and 29 House) being won by proponents of fair trade, and perhaps as high as 44 total congressional seats once all election results are in.

(IPS) - Ahead of World Diabetes Day, marked on Nov. 14, a leading British medical journal has issued a grim warning to Asian countries. Type-2 diabetes among the region's children has reached ''epidemic levels,'' says a paper published in 'The Lancet.'

''The onset of type-2 diabetes in younger age-groups is likely to result in major economic burdens for countries in Asia due to premature ill health and death,'' it says. ''People in Asia tend to develop diabetes with a lesser degree of obesity at younger age, suffer longer with complications of diabetes, and die sooner than people in other regions.''

Type-2 diabetes is as troubling among the continent's adults, notes the paper, whose principle writer is Prof. Kun-Ho Yoon, a South Korean diabetes specialist at the Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul. ''The proportion of people with type-2 diabetes and obesity have increased throughout Asia, and the rates of increase show no signs of slowing.''

"What has characterised Latin America in the last 20 to 30 years is the dichotomy, the rupture between social movements, which function on their own means, and the academic world, totally closed in on itself in the universities, which has not permitted a fluid dialogue"

SANTIAGO (IPS) - Some 90 left-leaning Latin American economists are meeting in the Chilean capital to discuss ways to build "a society with neither exploited nor exploiters" and construct bridges between academia and social movements.

"The Centre for Constitutional Rights says its will lodge charges against Mr Rumsfeld along with Alberto Gonzales, the US attorney-general, George Tenet, the former CIA director, and several other senior figures in President George W Bush's administration."

Editor's note: This site gives a fair amount of attention to American "neoconservatives" because their policies are wreaking havoc in the Middle East and, following Trotsky's dictum, they use permanent war to create changes to their liking. Even though being held off in Iraq, they will not learn the error of their ways any time soon and constitute a continuing menace to humankind.

"Muravchik is himself the exemplar of the neocons' Trotskyist roots, having served as youth leader of the Shachtmanite "third camp" Social Democrats, USA, the Young Peoples Socialist League...".

"Like the Marxists, who complain that communism didn't fail because it was never really tried, the neocons are full of excuses for the embarrassing implosion of their ideological hopes and dreams."

"I'd like to say this whole Vanity Fair [an American publication - eds] piece merely represents a case of rats jumping from a sinking ship, but after all the death and mayhem these people have caused, that would be an insult to rats."

Being "right" can sometimes be an unwelcome, and even dreadful, thing. Take, for instance, a boy who is convinced that a monster lives in his closet. He may hope he’s wrong. He may take solace in his parents' soothing reassurance that the alleged monster is just a figment of his imagination.

"China's authorities, however, have apparently chosen to continue the old strategy of dominating world markets by exploiting the country's cheap labor."

"The world is investing too little," according to one prominent economist. "The current situation has its roots in a series of crises over the last decade that were caused by excessive investment, such as the Japanese asset bubble, the crises in Emerging Asia and Latin America, and most recently, the IT bubble. Investment has fallen off sharply since, with only very cautious recovery."

Iran's best-selling newspaper, Hamshahri, launched a competition in February to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis.

The contest was a retaliation for last year's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish and other European newspapers that angered Muslims worldwide.

Presenting a prize to a representative of Moroccan cartoonist Abdellah Derkaoui, Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi praised Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has described the Holocaust as a "myth."

Editor's note: The results of the North American Free Trade Agreement show clearly that it is a device to enrich capital at the expense of Mexico's, Canada's, and the U.S.'s most defenseless citizens. Once again people are learning the hard way that capital only looks out for its own interests and needs severe controls, if not replacement by a more humane economic system. Please read elsewhere on this site about Prout's proposal for economic democracy: an economy of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Three-Country Study Details Effects on Economies, Labor Markets

Twelve years under the rules of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, has had a perverse impact on the distribution of income, wealth, and political power across the continent. A new three-country report shows that NAFTA has not lived up to its promise of better jobs and faster growth for Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Instead it has promoted an integrated continental economy with rules set by and for the benefit of the political and economic elite. NAFTA Revisited, a report released [this autumn] by the Economic Policy Institute, details the trade deal's effects on the economies, working people and the labor markets of all three nations.

Britain's teenagers are among the most badly behaved in Europe, a study by a think-tank has suggested.

On every indicator of bad behaviour-drugs, drink, violence, promiscuity-the UK was at or near the top, said the Institute for Public Policy Research.

The institute looked at the results of a number of studies of adolescents conducted in recent years.

The researchers believe the country's record can be explained by a collapse in family and community life in the UK.

Editor's note: Unlike many other countries, France wisely opposes U.S. hegemony at times, demonstrating another kind of leadership than that of those elements within U.S. society promoting war and neoliberal economic havoc. More efforts are needed to create a multipolar world capable of resisting U.S. domination and exploitation.

Plans to boost Nato's co- operation with countries such as Australia and Japan in an effort to forge a partnership against terrorism have been blocked by France.

"Section 22, the teachers' union in Oaxaca, has historically been a bastion of the decades-old democratic movement to free the national union from the control of leaders whose interests are tied to the country's most powerful political figures and not the workers' well-being"

November 1 was the Day of the Dead. It's the day that Mexicans flock to the cemeteries to visit family members who have passed on. Or, if you believe the traditions, to welcome the dead who come back to visit them.

"Muslim street commanders, who run lucrative drug networks, have organized youngsters in housing projects to ambush police and confront security forces. The response time allows hundreds of Muslims to storm police cars and patrols within minutes."

This might have dropped below the radar, but Al Qaida and its allies are literally battling the Crusaders every day in Europe. And so far, Europe isn't doing so well.

"We are in a state of civil war, orchestrated by radical Islamists," said Michel Thoomis, secretary general of the Action Police trade union. "This is not a question of urban violence any more. It is an intifada, with stones and firebombs."

The French Interior Ministry has acknowledged the Muslim uprising. The ministry said more than 2,500 police officers have been injured in 2006. This amounts to at least 14 officers each day.

"It should be understood that if people want temporary or permanent relief in the socio-economic sphere, and permanent relief in the psycho-economic sphere, they should first liberate the intellect. If one attains socio-economic freedom, one may or may not attain psycho-economic freedom. Socio-economic freedom means that all members of the society are equal in the social and economic spheres. It is as if one is providing a cow with a full belly of fodder on the one hand, and on the other hand one is extracting maximum labour from the cow. This analogy illustrates that the cow has been granted socio-economic liberty. Simply guaranteeing freedom in the socio-economic sphere does not necessarily mean that there will be liberty in the psycho-economic sphere. That is, one has not gained full freedom of thought. In a word, one is guaranteed ample supplies of food but denied intellectual liberty. When psycho-economic freedom is granted, people enjoy material wealth as well as freedom of thought. But in order to attain true freedom in the psycho-economic sphere, one must attain the liberation of intellect, which is subtler than psycho-economic freedom. Without intellectual liberation, yatamana will become meaningless in the intellectual sphere, just as it will be ineffective in the physical sphere, and one will be unable to do the noble tasks which are usually performed with the help of intellect. The fundamental necessity of the intellectual world is intellectual freedom, which you are lacking. Those who exploit human beings to serve their own self-interests do not want socio-economic freedom to be granted to people. That is why they continue their psycho-economic exploitation in such a way that people do not clamour for socio-economic freedom. They do not directly exploit the people in the social or economic sphere, but in the psycho-economic sphere, and they do it so intelligently that people are totally unaware of it, and hence are unable to develop their progressive outlook properly. Moreover, the exploited masses are also unable to develop economically because the exploiters control the economy in a subtle way. However, a day comes when some intelligent people emerge from the exploited masses having detected the exploiters' techniques to dupe the people, even though the media is controlled. At this stage the exploiters become active intellectually to prevent the germination of the seed of liberation. They take control of the education system, the printing presses and the propaganda agencies in a last and desperate attempt to raise high embankments to contain the surging tide of public discontent. But soon after comes the day of change when the vikśubdha shúdras [disgruntled masses] rise up in revolt and the high sand embankments get washed away by the floods of revolution. After this the masses make an independent appraisal of the type of socio-psycho-economic exploitation they were subjected to. Before the revolution they may have discussed social injustice in private amongst themselves, but if they had tried to propagate their discontent publicly their tongues would have been cut."

(IPS) - Cooperatives in Venezuela, which are mushrooming at a rate of over 100 a day, have become a mechanism through which the government is distributing windfall oil profits to the people.

"Powell felt Cheney and his allies - his chief aide, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas J. Feith and what Powell called Feith's 'Gestapo' office - had established what amounted to a separate government."

While it may be in questionable taste to celebrate at this time of national disaster, with Iraq falling to pieces and the security of the United States compromised as never before, one can't help but savor this delicious moment as the neoconservatives fall from their formerly dizzying heights. Here's Matthew Parris, in the London Times, sounding the call to gloat:

Economics for the people: "In addition to saving on imports of diesel of fossil fuel origin and curbing pollution, the point of the plan is to promote social development by boosting smallholder agriculture."

RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 26 (IPS) - The physic nut tree, which has a lifespan of over 40 years, is resistant to drought and benefits small farmers, is a potential source of biodiesel in Brazil, as is the babassu, a coconut palm from the eastern Amazonian region.

Editor's note: The article below questions how Swedes, once leaders in some world affairs, are now distancing themselves from the U.S. and otherwise. Distancing themselves from the U.S. these days however is a sign of leadership: It is not good in our opinion to maintain relations with a government that has gone deep into the dark side in its ambitions and activities. Swedes may want to reconsider strengthening relations with the other Scandinavian countries, however. They are part of the same cultural heritage and their similar anti-U.S. stance shows a similarly elevated consciousness and disbelief about the merits of U.S. "world leadership." The only thing the U.S. government is leading the world now in is immorality in the Middle East and its anti-people global economic policies, and because of that the world has to become multipolar.

Democracy hypocrisy: "The early suppression of popular government helped turn many Iraqis against the U.S. occupation."

Few subjects generate more official lies than the U.S. government's devotion to spreading democracy abroad. Iraq has been the largest most recent geyser of such deceits. In order to understand future U.S. government messianic democracy efforts, it is worthwhile to review the opportunism with respect to representative government in Iraq.

"U.S. industry is still investing in R&D after all; it is just not hiring Americans to do the research and development. U.S. manufacturers still make things, only less and less in America with American labor. U.S. manufacturers still hire engineers, only they are foreign ones, not American ones."

The attacks on middle-class jobs are lending new meaning to the phrase "class war". The ladders of upward mobility are being dismantled. America, the land of opportunity, is giving way to ever deepening polarization between rich and poor.

Editor's note: This article does not necessarily reflect the view of Proutist Universal but we are publishing it since its conclusion that the ongoing violence in France is anti-French and anti-social may have some basis in reality.

Radical Muslims in France's housing estates are waging an undeclared "intifada" against the police, with violent clashes injuring an average of 14 officers each day. As the interior ministry said that nearly 2,500 officers had been wounded this year, a police union declared that its members were "in a state of civil war" with Muslims in the most depressed "banlieue" estates which are heavily populated by unemployed youths of north African origin.

(IPS) - In the 13 years since its birth in Italy, the global campaign to abolish the death penalty has convinced more than half the countries in the world of its cause.

For them, however, that is not enough. Their goal is a total worldwide ban on the practise.

To that end, they are pushing the European Union to back an Italian initiative at the United Nations current sessions for a resolution asking all countries to work towards a full, universal moratorium on executions.

"They [micro-indebted women in India] are paying between 24 and 36 per cent on loans for productive expenditures while an upper class person can finance the purchase of a Mercedes at 6 to 8 per cent from the banking system."

"Governments like microloans because they allow them to abdicate their most basic responsibilities to poor citizens."

John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, the authors of a controversial paper criticizing the role of the "Israel Lobby" in American foreign policy, are at work on a book-length version of their findings to be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

"The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU) supported the buyout and joined with management in building successful employee participation. Training in participatory practices was implemented from the beginning, and an effective jointly led employee involvement structure resulted in a 28% increase in productivity, a 40% drop in scrap, and greatly reduced machine downtime in the first year. The company was immediately profitable."

North African pirates abducted and enslaved more than 1 million Europeans between 1530 and 1780 in a series of raids which depopulated coastal towns from Sicily to Cornwall, according to new research.