February 2007 Archives

Any non-human or human being who wants to break the solidarity of society must be opposed. You will have to fight against such elements. You will have to fight all antisocial and anti-human forces in Asia, Europe, the world and the entire universe, and you must fight as a single entity. Whenever you fight against inhuman forces, all socio-economic units will fight as one. In this fight, you must fight for all the suppressed and oppressed people of the world.

It is well known that wall mart exploit labours. But Indian Government including the communist rulers of West Bengal are about to give a red carpet welcome to India camouflaged with Bharatia, its Indian face. What happened to the slogan, "workers of the world unite"? - Proutist Universal

Feb 21: Worker Rights Consortium Report released. (Read More)

UPDATE Jan 9: Strikers encounter another Another Attack on Jan 9 (Read More)

Workers at Chong Won Fashion International, a Wal-Mart factory in the Philippines, go on strike September 25, 2006 . (Read Press Release)

Since 2004 the workers at Chong Won Fashion International in the Philippines have fought for the right to bargain with management and yet they have continued to be ignored and pushed to the side. The workers sought support from the International Labor Rights Fund and Maquila Solidarity Network. ILRF and MSN immediately contacted Wal-Mart as the primary buyer at the factory. MSN clearly stated what the expectations of Wal-Mart were which included meeting with the union leaders and a local NGO Worker's Assistance Center.

Unfortunately Wal-Mart continued to play its usual games where they say one thing and do the total opposite.

In ancient society, men and women had equal rights. Later, when some distinguished women such as Gargii, Maetreyii and others excelled their male counterparts in intellect, learning, humanity and power of contemplation, a group of male conspirators started curtailing their rights one after another in order to engender an inferiority complex in their minds. In the varńáshrama [caste] system, women and Shúdras as groups were segregated. That was a dark chapter in human history indeed. Human beings conspired against their fellow humans to deprive them of their legitimate human rights. It can be said that the seeds of exploitation, imperialism and colonialism were sown at that time.

Long before that, weaving was done mostly by women because the capacity to care for minute detail which is so essential for handiwork is found more in women than men. Even today weaving is done by women in many parts of the world. Obviously, when women became segregated, then weaving, too, as a hobby or profession came to be considered inferior. All this happened due to the conspiracies of a few men. Usually people indulge in such acts to revenge themselves on others.

BEIXINZHUANG, China - Christmas was just two days away and snow was falling when the five factory girls finished their shift. They'd been working for 12 hours, it was already after 1 a.m., and their dorm was freezing cold. One of them ran out to grab a bucket and some burning coal. The room warmed slightly. They drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, none of them woke up. They had been poisoned by the fumes. But their parents believe at least two of the girls died much more horrible deaths.

They charge that the owner of the canvas-making factory was so impatient to cover up the fact that three of the unconscious workers were underage that he rushed the girls into caskets while some were still alive.

"You see the damage on the corner of the box, the bruises on the side of her head, and the vomit in her hair?" said Jia Haimin, the mother of 14-year-old Wang Yajuan, pointing to pictures of her daughter lying in a cardboard casket stained with vomit and appearing to show evidence of a struggle. "Dead people can't bang their heads against the box. Dead people can't vomit. My child was still alive when they put her in there."

What the world needs now is a global vision that can guide humanity toward fulfilling its deepest and dearest aspirations. What the world needs is a spirit-centered vision that is deeply rooted in economic equity and ecological balance. According to P. R. Sarkar, the founder of the progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT), spirituality is the source of our deepest and most fundamental human values. Hence, it is upon this foundation that our economic, ecological, political and scientific values and policies must be based. It is for this reason that Sarkar envisioned PROUT as a spirit-centered theory.

"They stood up together to protect the honor of the sound that issued from the lips of a new-born babe churning the very core of his existence, the utterance that sanctified for him his first lesson of humanity" (~ Hasan Hafizur Rahaman ~)

There are certain days which remain ever memorable and sacred to certain communities. This applies to the 21st February. On this very day the people of East Bengal attained martyrdom by fomenting a revolution to save Bengali language as the official language of their country.

The only way to combat religious fanaticism is to strengthen the logical wave. Through the study of science, we know that an eclipse is a physical phenomenon. The deities Ráhu and Ketu have nothing to do with it. Although this sort of superstitious belief is no doubt diminishing, there are some people who still worship mythological deities because they believe that the deities can be propitiated to release the sun and the moon from an eclipse. The reason is that the fear psychosis in human beings is stronger than logic. When human rationality is strengthened, irrational ideas will vanish from society. Many people today advocate the formation of theocratic states (dharmarasta). But when they use the term theocratic states, they mean religious states, not states which uphold the cause of righteousness. We should strive to establish states which uphold righteousness (dharma), and for this the physical sentiments that are the basis of religion should be ignored. People must remain aloof from dogmatic religious ideas. Some people perform religious observances which relate to the moon - after sighting the moon, they start their religious penance. But what will happen to those who will live on the moon itself [in future]. Rational thinking will remove the fear psychosis from the human mind - rationality will defeat fanaticism.In India, the Aryans tried to establish the Vedic religion by destroying the Austric religion. In the Buddhist period, particularly during the reign of King Binbisai of Magadh, Buddhism was imposed upon non-Buddhists. Later, the Hindus forcibly converted Buddhists and Jains to Hinduism. During the Muslim period, the Islamic rulers forcibly imposed Islam in India, Iran and Egypt. Contemporary Egypt is a mixture of Arabian civilization and Islamic religion. Countless Jews were forcibly converted to Christianity. During the British rule of India, the Christians propagated Christianity in a very psychological way, consequently thousands of Hindus became Christians. Before the British came to India, there were hardly any Christians in the country. In the Muslim period, many Hindus were converted to Islam by both psychological pressure and physical force. Besides this, many Hindus embraced Islam because they were disgusted with the defects in Hinduism. At that time, along with severe religious upheaval, there was also extreme social disparity, and as a result many people turned to Islam. Even today, some missionaries are converting people into their respective religions by taking advantage of the people's educational backwardness, superstition and poverty. The medieval crusades are also burning examples or the suppression of one religion by another.

The central banks are the source of the majority of the world's problems. They are unelected and the majority of their activity is hidden from the public like that of any dictatorship. The Federal Reserve for example is composed of private bankers who are given free rein to organize the American economy to suit their business interests. This article relates that these banks are no longer able to control their economies due to globalization. This is why they are tightening the reins of all the world's economies by resorting to bombings and invasion not realizing that the reins are bound to break and the world's economies are bound to throw them off and in to the ditch of another depression.These bankers are unelected and unaccountable. The rapidly eroding facade of political democracy today reveals all to clearly the gaping void of democracy in the economy. ~ WPA

There is every indication that Kalla's plans will remain on the drawing board. Jakarta's chaotic development is determined by well-connected construction and real estate tycoons who openly flout regulations and make huge profits speculating in the construction of shopping malls and housing complexes for the wealthy. Jakarta's construction boom over the past decade has compounded the city's flooding problem by gobbling up natural water catchments, such as lakes and rice paddies, and denuding the surrounding hills of trees.

During World War II, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose took the opportunity to unite all the Indians of Southeast Asia and declare war against Britain in order to free India from the clutches of British imperialism by military power. However, Nehru and the Indian communists began a propaganda campaign against Netaji, slandering his character by describing him as "Tojo's dog", and as a result he could not achieve the requisite support from the Indian masses and was forced to retreat from Mairang and Manipur. Finally, due to the surrender of Japan, he went underground using the cover of a plane crash on 18th August, 1945. However, the mystery of his disappearance has to this day remained a mystery, due to the secrecy of Nehru and his successors.

"It is not sufficient to merely read or to write about deathlessness; it has to be understood in the heart, by the heart. As long as the call of the Great doesn't reach the innermost recess of the heart, spiritual practice remains as dead as the worship of the crude. In order to convey the call of the Great to one's heart, one's every physical and mental expression has to be directed slowly and gradually with all one's sweetness and devotion, to one's inner being. According to the extent of this introversion people will realize more and more deeply the vastness of their goal as compared to transitory nature of physical entities. They will not then seek in vain the eternal entity in the transitory physical world. Then the transitory entities will keep on gradually merging in one vast eternal Being and in this process a deep and sincere yearning for the Supreme Eternal Consciouness will awaken in them."

This article reviews the prime differences between capitalism, communism and Prout. To put it very simply, Prout is anti-globalization, pro localization; anti-centralization, pro de-centralization and regionalization; anti-corporations and pro-cooperatives. The key point of Prout is cooperatives. Shrii Sarkar has stated clearly, once cooperatives are established, economic democracy will follow automatically. Why do we wait?

"Human beings are not isolated beings. Each human being is universal. The longing for physical and psychic pabula comes from Neohumanism, and these longings should be guaranteed by PROUT. Neohumanism is universal humanism. Not a single person should be confined to a particular area. Each and every human being is universal. PROUT is the practical approach. It keeps in view factors such as water, soil, body, mind and mental faculties in combination, in association, and in friendly contact with other developed creatures. PROUT and Neohumanism will free the world from all difficulties. To achieve all this a healthy economy is essential, and for a healthy economy there must be proper planning. Planning should include factors such as population, local conditions, socio-economic potentiality, the sentimental legacy of the people, and the availability of raw materials; otherwise economic progress is not possible." ~ Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar

There is a "mystery" we must explain: How is it that as corporate investments and foreign aid and international loans to poor countries have increased dramatically throughout the world over the last half century, so has poverty? The number of people living in poverty is growing at a faster rate than the world's population. What do we make of this? -- Michael Parenti

What's scant is hard evidence that the weapons are provided by the Iranian government, rather than arms dealers or rogue Revolutionary Guard elements. "Iranian lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants clearly intensifies the conflict in Iraq," says the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq. But the most that can be said with certainty is that Tehran is failing to stop the traffic. The Iranians themselves admit they're not trying as hard as they could. "I can give you my word that we don't give IEDs to the Mahdi Army," says an Iranian intelligence official who asked not to be named because secrecy is his business. "But if you asked me if we could control our borders better if we wanted to, I would say: 'Yes, if we knew that the Americans would not use Iraq as a base to attack Iran'." - It is well known in the alternative, independent media that Iran gives weapons to Shiite Iraqis. It is also well known in the alternative, independent media that the United States government ALSO gives weapons to Shiite Iranians and possibly also to Sunnis, because the United States goverment goal in Iraq is to foment civil war, so that they can proceed with their 1992 plans to divide the country and pocket the oil spoils. - WPA

Bant Singh is a Dalit and a singer in the village of Burj Jhabber, Mansa, Punjab. In 2000, his minor daughter was raped. The rapists were given life sentence in 2002. In retaliation, Bant was attacked on January 5, 2006. He was left bleeding to death. His arms and leg had to be amputated.He says his tongue is there, he can still sing. - For those feeling despondent over any minor grievance or aggravation, please see this video. See the spirits of the man who lost so much but marches on. Caeravati! Move on! It must become the slogan of the oppressed peoples in the 21st century! - WPA

Please watch this video

Have you ever had a friend hit you with the classic word trap, "Have you stopped beating your wife?" Answer yes or answer no, and you incriminate yourself. This joke is based on the technique of using an implicit premise. While it may get a laugh, it is also used by politicians as more than a joke.

Political manipulation is most effectively accomplished when you control the framework in which others can argue and, ultimately, think. For example, if you want to get your viewpoint accepted without openly debating it, you make it an assumption, a premise for any other debates. Not only will you win the public over to your view, but you will effectively exclude the possibility of any serious opposition.

Suppose many years ago a government wanted to expand it's power to by having control over what people put in their bodies. There may have been real debate among the populace as to whether this is an appropriate function of law or government. Many may not have wanted such a "war" on drugs, which, after all, is just a war on people who ingest certain plants or chemicals.

Too many greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere will increase the greenhouse effect. The most dangerous aspects of the continuing dramatic climatic change is the effects of feedback loops (amplified change). Examples of the feedback loops are Ice/snow, as the earth warms, the levels of ice and snow decrease. This decrease leads to higher temperatures on the surface, leading to more warming. As the earth warms, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere goes up which is the most powerful greenhouse gas in existence.

"All the created objects in this cosmological order are dynamic. Nothing is stationary, all have to move, movement is compulsory. This movement alone is 'Dharma'. Different creatures have [obtained a] mind for the sake of pleasure. The undeveloped and underdeveloped creatures gradually move ahead in the path of evolution out of great struggle. Out of struggle alone dogs, monkeys and jackals attain their lives. This has to be accepted, that there is certainly struggle in animal lives. Take for example, the case of wild creatures. Now these creatures have to move about in search of food. For instance, there are tigers, deer and boars in the forest. They have to move here and there in search of food. And together with this, they have to think where they will go and how they will procure food. Thinking like this, or worrying like this, their psychic development is affected due to physical and psychic clash. Because of this, a little development is effected. After their death all these creatures attain higher bodies of more developed creatures. As for instance, you will mark there are various categories of dogs; some of them have more intellect and some have very little. This is also true in the case of human beings."

"The form of law which I propose would be as follows: In a state which is desirous of being saved from the greatest of all plagues -- not faction, but rather distraction -- there should exist among the citizens neither extreme poverty nor, again, excessive wealth, for both are productive of great evil . . . Now the legislator should determine what is to be the limit of poverty or of wealth." ~ Plato

Proutist Universal says, every citizen must be guaranteed the constitutional right to adequate purchasing power. If it is denied, then he/she must have the right to sue his/her government. And also, there must be a ceiling on the accumulation of wealth any one person can accumulate, because excessive accumulation by one person of finite natural resources means the denial of those resources to thousands or millions of others. Let each person be content with basic necessities for their life and their work.

Industries have just started drawing 0.031 MAcF of water, and already the farmers are feeling the effects. And they are outraged that the government, instead of attempting to provide irrigation to the dry command areas, is blindly advocating industrial supply. "We invited all the MLAs and MPs of the area to the chetabani samavesh. It will become clear whether they are sincere in supporting the masses in this ultimate fight for survival; otherwise their duplicity will be exposed," declares Lingaraj. Clearly, the battle lines have been drawn and the region appears to be headed towards greater conflict. Unless something is done about the government's apathy towards the problem, a war over water is inevitable. - Ranjan Panda

In the past, choosing not to eat meat or animal-based foods was considered unusual in the United States. Times and attitudes have changed dramatically, however. Vegetarians are still a minority in the United States, but a large and growing one. The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has officially endorsed vegetarianism, stating "appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, are nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases."