Sunday, October 28, 2012

Why don't more Muslims speak out against the wanton destruction of Mecca's holy sites?

Muslims are often criticised for not speaking out more vocally on key issues that affect their community. Barely a week goes by without the media asking why community leaders aren’t more vocal in condemning button topics such as terrorism or violence against women.

It’s a difficult balance and often the criticisms are unfair. One the one hand ordinary Muslims cannot be expected to answer for everything that is done in their name. But at the same time silence and reticence from a majority simply allows the vocal minority to have disproportionate influence on how Islam is both practiced and perceived by the rest of the world.

One area that you might think would see Muslims speaking out with one voice is the wholesale archaeological and historical destruction of Islam’s birthplace. Over the past twenty years, fuelled by their petro-dollars and intolerant Wahabi backers, the Saudi authorities have embarked on cultural vandalism of breath-taking proportions.

(...)

Muslim silence on this issue isn’t just cowardly, it’s deeply hypocritical. When an obscure group of foam-at-the-mouth Islamophobes got together in the United States to make an utterly pointless and deliberately provocative film about the Prophet Mohammad, or when a group of Danish cartoonists exercised their democratic right to lampoon a religious leader and the creeping self-censorship of the European press, protests broke out around the world.

At Friday prayers, imams and sheikhs wasted little time in giving rousing speeches about how Islam was being sullied and the Prophet insulted. The mobs came out, people died (mostly Muslims). Full story...

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More Americans give up passports over tax...

An increasing number of Americans living in Switzerland are renouncing their citizenship as a result of ever intrusive demands from the tax authorities in their “home” country.

The US embassy to Switzerland told swissinfo.ch that it had processed 411 renunciations in the first nine months of this year. This compares to 180 Americans giving up their passports in 2011.

While the number of Americans that turn in their passports is a small fraction of the estimated 35,000 to 40,000 US citizens living in Switzerland, the rise in such renunciations is causing concern for US ambassador Donald Beyer.

“At the moment this phenomenon is bigger in Switzerland than anywhere else in the world,” Beyer told the Handelszeitung newspaper. “US passports are becoming less attractive due to the implementation of stricter US laws.” Full story...

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The library donkey...

Seven Tibetans burn themselves in anti-Beijing protests...

A total of seven Tibetans have set fire to themselves in the past week in protest against what they claim is heavy-handed Chinese rule in the Himalayan region, a human rights group said in a statement issued late on Saturday.

Cousins Tsepo, 20, and Tenzin, 25, set themselves aflame outside a government building in Driru County, north of regional capital Lhasa on Thursday, London-based group Free Tibet said.

Tsepo died on the way to hospital and Tenzin was taken away by officials, Free Tibet said. His whereabouts are unknown.

Last week saw the highest number of self-immolations since the latest wave of anti-China demonstrations began in 2011, the group said. Since March last year, nearly 60 people have set themselves on fire in protest against Beijing. At least half of them have died. Full story...

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India’s plague, trash, downs its Garden City during strike...

Outside Bangalore’s last official landfill, the garbage trucks regularly lined up here for hours, their burdens putrefying in the afternoon sun. A stinking mountain of trash, the landfill has been poisoning local waters and sickening nearby villagers. Another dump site was in even worse shape before it was closed recently after violent protests.

Bangalore, the capital of India’s modern economy and home to many of its high-tech workers, is drowning in its own waste. Last week, local villagers blocked the roads leading to the Mandur landfill on the city’s outskirts even as many of Bangalore’s trash haulers went on strike, saying they had not been paid in months. Some neighborhoods have not had trash pickups for nearly three weeks, and vast mounds of garbage are scattered through what is known in India as the Garden City.

 Trash is India’s plague. It chokes rivers, scars meadows, contaminates streets and feeds a vast and dangerous ecosystem of rats, mosquitoes, stray dogs, monkeys and pigs. Perhaps even more than the fitful electricity and insane traffic, the ubiquitous garbage shows the incompetence of Indian governing and the dark side of the country’s rapid economic growth. Greater wealth has spawned more garbage, and the managers of the country’s pell-mell development have been unable to handle the load. Full story...

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Man arrested after being caught using mubobobo at bus terminus. Mubobobo?

POLICE in Zvishavane say they are holding a man after he was allegedly caught using mubobobo on a woman at a busy bus terminus on Tuesday.

Clifford Mavete (27), is accused of using black magic through which it is claimed a man can have sex with a woman without physical contact.

Superintendent Robert Mugazambi, the deputy officer commanding Zvishavane and Mberengwa districts, said Mavete was likely to be charged with public indecency.

The Chronicle reports that Mavete was seen "sweating and exhibiting an expression synonymous with that of a person engaging in sex while his eyes were glued at the woman who was standing in front of him." Full story...

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Burma: HRW satellite images 'show Rakhine destruction'

A human rights group has released satellite images of what appears to be the destruction of a coastal Burmese district riven by ethnic unrest.

Human Rights Watch says the images show that more than 800 buildings and houseboats were burned to the ground in Kyaukpyu, in western Rakhine state.

It says the victims were mostly Muslim Rohingyas, targeted by non-Muslims.

The president's spokesman acknowledged that whole villages had been burnt down and that more troops could be deployed.

Officials say 64 people have died in recent unrest, but HRW says it fears the figure could be much higher.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the violence showed that Burma's government "urgently needs to provide security for the Rohingya" in Rakhine state, which is also known as Arakan. Full story...

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Political killings on the rise in South Africa...

Chinese man sues wife over ugly child – and wins $120,000...

Many people are used to returning merchandise if they find that it doesn't match their needs. But one Chinese man went a step further, and returned his wife – getting $120,000 in a court settlement.

Jian Feng, living in Northern China, has filed for divorce from his wife after he found their newborn child to be “incredibly ugly,” arguing that his wife tricked him into the union by appearing to be a beautiful woman when she was instead ugly.

"I married my wife out of love, but as soon as we had our first daughter, we began having marital issues. Our daughter was incredibly ugly, to the point where it horrified me," reports gossipwelove.com

Feng, after first accusing his wife of cheating, since the child girl did not look like him, was later confronted by his wife with the bitter truth – cosmetic surgery. Full story...

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Why India has become a living tragedy of self-delusion...

(...)

Although there are more children in school, they are now learning less. As per Annual Survey of Education 2011, only 48% of class V children are able to read a class II text, and less than 30% of those in class III can do a 2-digit sum. Some 1.25 crore students come to the job market every year who have no skills. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen is at pains to lament, "education in India is in peril".

Mere enunciation of rights to education can be no solution. Andre Beteille termed the UPA move as "the Marie Antoinette Solution" - "they don't have schools, so give them rights..." India's high growth potential is largely predicated by its assumed demographic dividend. This very demography appears likely to end up as the Achilles' heel and worse, with country's youth remaining inadequately educated and trained. There is serious dearth of employable technicians - plumbers, carpenters, electricians. India's 1.4 million schools are in need of 4 million new teachers and 8 million more to be retrained.

 Like education, health too has been a sad story. As many as 130 million of Indians have no access to basic health care; as Census 2011 shows, half of country's population defecate in the open; 20% of households have to travel more than half a km for drinking water; more than two-thirds of houses (87% rural, 26% urban) use firewood, crop residue, cow dung, coal. The number of physicians per 1,000 population for the world is 1.5, for India it is 0.6; the number of hospital beds per 1,000 population in India is 0.9, much lower than the world average of 3.3. Almost 2 million children die in India before reaching their first birth day. The country boasts of more than 30 million tonne of grains stacked, some of which in open for want of warehouses; yet 40% of its children are underweight and 70% anaemic. According to a WHO 2000 estimate, of the annual 529,000 maternal deaths globally, 136,000 or about 26% of them occur in India. Full story...

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Friday, October 26, 2012

'Death and destruction in Bani Walid' as media silent...

The Libyan city of Bani Walid is reported to be under heavy attack from pro-government forces and militias. Witnesses say that more civilians are being killed by shelling, while houses are engulfed in flames.

Earlier reports suggested that the city had fallen, but continuing reports of wide-scale killing and armed gangs and militias patrolling the streets and looting people’s homes indicate that those reports are not true.

An individual in Italy who claims to have relatives in Bani Walid told RT earlier that over 600 people have so far been killed while the number of people in hospitals is over 1,000.

A local told RT that the troops patrolling the streets were bulldozing homes and setting them on fire.

“Bani Walid was invaded by militias from Misrata,” a local woman said. “They destroyed everything; brought chaos, death and destruction with them. When families wanted to return to their homes these militias directed their guns towards them, shot at them, and they were all forced to flee.”

She also confirmed that the local hospital is incapable of treating the number of wounded. Full story...

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Millionaire pees in bottles to save money on flushing toilets...

A millionaire reportedly pees in bottles to save water and money on flushing toilets.

Victoria Hunt from Columbus, Ohio is a self-made millionaire who makes her money from renting out several houses she owns, yet chooses to live on a budget of $12,000 per year (£7,500).

In addition to peeing in bottles, Hunt showers at a gym instead of her home and uses a makeshift stove outside to cook for her family.

She also forages for food in dumpsters, the woods and her front yard. Full story...

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Vote for nobody in 2012...

Germany fourth country to ban Novartis flu vaccine...

Germany became the fourth country on Thursday to ban sales of flu vaccines made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, following embargoes by Italy, Switzerland and Austria.

Announcing the latest ban, German health authorities said four batches of the Begripal flu vaccine -- also marketed as Agrippal -- and one batch of the Fluad vaccine were no longer for sale.

Novartis insisted earlier on Thursday that both vaccines were safe despite concerns over impurities.

"Novartis confirms its confidence in the safety and efficacy of its seasonal influenza vaccines," the company said in a statement.

 On Wednesday, Italian, Swiss and Austrian authorities stopped sales of the vaccines pending tests into possible side effects. Full story...

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In Myanmar's volatile west, sectarian violence worsens...

Hundreds of homes burned and gunfire rang out as sectarian violence raged for a fifth day between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in western Myanmar on Thursday, pushing the death toll to nearly 60 and testing the country's nascent democracy.

Security forces struggled to stem Myanmar's worst communal unrest since clashes in June killed more than 80 people and displaced at least 75,000 in Rakhine State.

The latest violence in Rakhine has spread to several towns, including commercially important Kyaukpyu, where a multi-billion-dollar China-Myanmar pipeline starts.

The violence is one of the biggest tests yet of a reformist government that has vowed to forge unity in one of Asia's most ethnically diverse countries. Full story...

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Incorruptible Indian bureaucrat hounded out of office for fighting graft – 43 times...

Ashok Khemka is a troublemaker.

A senior career bureaucrat, he simply cannot tolerate corruption, and so, in every job he takes, he does his best to put a stop to it.

Not surprisingly, that does not always go down very well with his bosses.

In 21 years as a government worker in the northern state of Haryana, Khemka’s determination to follow the rules has seen him transferred out of his job 43 times — or moved to another department every six months on average.

In his last job, he survived just 80 days. But this time, Khemka turned himself into a national celebrity by taking on the might of the Nehru-Gandhi family, which has dominated Indian politics since independence. With resentment against official graft running high and the media hungry for scams, Khemka was eagerly seized upon as a hero. Full story...

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Brazilian teenager sells her virginity for $780,000 online...

A Brazilian student has sold her virginity in an online auction for US$780,000 as part of a documentary organised by an Australian filmmaker, according to reports.

Catarina Migliorini, 20, was the subject of 15 bids, with a Japanese man named only as Natsu winning on Wednesday night, Australian media reported.

They said Miss Migliorini would be "delivered" to her buyer on board a plane to Australia and that she would be interviewed before and after losing her virginity at a secret location.

Filmmaker Jason Sisely, who reportedly began his project in 2009 and caused outrage when he put posters up in Sydney and Melbourne saying "Virgins Wanted", said Miss Migliorini was ecstatic and had not expected such a high level of interest.

 "The auction closed last night and Catarina is extremely excited. She was speaking to her family in Brazil online and they were extremely happy for her," he told Australian online news site Ninemsn. Full story...

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Athens, the social meltdown...

Jérôme Kerviel, the Frenchman who nearly broke the bank...

Jérôme Kerviel, who lost his appeal Wednesday against a three-year jail term and a €4.9-billion fine for his part in France's biggest rogue-trading scandal, casts himself as a simple soul caught up in an orgy of greed.

The 35-year-old was convicted of forgery and breach of trust for gambling away nearly €5 billion ($6.3-billion) in risky deals as a star trader at Société Générale, one of Europe's biggest banks.

Branded a crook by his ex-employer and a mere scapegoat by defenders, Kerviel insisted his bosses knew what he was doing and turned a blind eye to possible breaches of rules as long as he kept the profits rolling in.

Even as he racked up billions for the bank in its skyscraper in Paris's La Défense business district, Kerviel lived modestly in a small suburban flat and took the train to Brittany in the holidays to visit his widowed mother.

 "I am an ordinary person. I am not crazy," he said during investigations into the scandal after Société Générale was driven to unwind €50 billion of risky deals that it blames on him. Full story...

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Hundreds of homes burned in renewed Burmese ethnic violence between between Burma's Rakhine Buddhists and its Rohingya Muslim minority...

(...)

Since then, Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for ducking questions on the clashes although on Tuesday she voiced her concerns and said the absence of rule of law was to blame.

"Of course I am worried about the situation there. Actually, this situation can be expected. As I often said, there must be the rule of law to prevent this sort of problem. It cannot be sorted out overnight," she said.

The conflict however remains unsolved and three people have been killed since Sunday in clashes which saw more than 1000 homes burned to the ground. Curfews were imposed in Minbya and Mrauk Oo, but has spread to other towns.

According to Reuters, violence had yet to be contained in Myay Bone, where local sources blamed Rohingyas for the clashes. "The local Rohingyas prepared boats for escape. Just before escape, they started setting fires. Then the Arakans (local Rakhine people) chased them down, seized one of the Rohingyas who had started a fire and also burnt the Rohingyas' boats prepared for escape," the source said. Full story...

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Surfing the net aged just three, the hi-tech toddlers...

Once upon a time, they would have played with train sets, dolls and cuddly toys.

Today’s toddlers, however, are more likely to be playing with an iPad - and are becoming adept at using the internet long before they start school.

Nearly half of three and four-year-olds are now technologically-savvy, a report by media watchdog Ofcom revealed yesterday.

And one in ten is already using an iPad to visit websites, watch films and television programmes and play games.

The report marks the first time the regulator has looked at the habits of the pre-school age group – and the findings prompted experts to warn parents not to use computers and tablets as ‘virtual babysitters’.

The study also found that under-13s, many of whom are too young to legitimately register for social networks without parental consent, are befriending strangers on these websites. Cyber-bullying also emerged as a persistent problem, with more girls than boys being targeted. Full story...

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'Dead' Brazilian is guest at own wake...

THERE was screaming. There was fainting. It doesn't happen every day: a car washer in Brazil walked into his own wake, where his distraught family was already weeping over their loss.

"People were so startled. Women were fainting, people started running all over the place," said Maria Menezes, one of the mourners at the event in Alagoinhas, in Salvador de Bahia state, G1 news reported.

Gilberto Araujo, 41, heard from a friend on the street that his family thought he was dead and was busy getting ready to bury him so he decided to head straight to the wake and clear things up.

"A friend of mine told me there was a coffin at the wake - and that I was inside it," Araujo said. "I told him: 'But I am alive! Pinch me!" Full story...

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George Carlin: How lying politicians use words...

Indian girls 'should be banned from owning mobiles'

Girls should be banned from owning mobile phones to stop them eloping, an Indian MP has said.

His comments come amid growing fears of 'talibanisation' in parts of Northern India, where social conservatism in both Hindu and Muslim communities has been blamed for honour killings, kidnappings to enforce child marriages, and a rash of controversial fatwas and village council rulings. Earlier this month a feudal leader said child marriage should be encouraged to halt an increase in rapes.

One ruling sought to ban 'love marriages' as immoral while others tried to stop women from leaving their homes.

 In a televised speech in Muzzafarnagar, Rajpal Singh Saini, a former state minister in former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's government, told his audience of a father who had sought his help when his daughter eloped. Full story...

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Savile sex abuse scandal rocks BBC...

The head of the BBC defended on Tuesday the broadcaster's response to allegations of sex abuse by late TV star Jimmy Savile before British lawmakers, but admitted its reputation had taken a hit.

Director General George Entwistle said the world's biggest public broadcaster regretted dropping a television probe into allegations of widespread abuse of underage girls by Savile.

But Entwistle, who only took over the position this summer, denied that pressure from BBC top brass had forced flagship current affairs television show "Newsnight" to shelve its investigation late last year.

"There is no question in my mind this is a very grave matter indeed," Entwistle told parliament's Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Full story...

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Russia accuses U.S. of human rights abuses...

Prisoners detained without charges. Prisons operating outside the legal system. Limits on free speech and the Internet. Legitimate voters prevented from casting their ballots. Sanctioned kidnappings. Witch hunts and torture.

It's all part of life, says the Russian government — in the United States.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a 56-page report in Russian and English titled, "On the Human Rights Situation in the United States."

 The report, distributed at hearings held by the International Affairs Committee of Russia's lower house of parliament, was the first such full examination of the U.S. human rights record issued here since the fall of communism in 1991. In tone, vocabulary and spirit, it was reminiscent of the Cold War-era propaganda counterattacks launched by the Soviet Union on its rival. Full story...

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

India prepares to kick Monsanto to the curb...

India, the world's second-most populous country and one of its poorest, has apparently had enough of agribusiness giant Monsanto.

According to a recent story in Science magazine:

Sounding what some regard as the death knell for the development of genetically modified food crops in India, a high-profile parliamentary panel last week recommended that GM crop "field trials under any garb should be discontinued forthwith," and that agricultural GM research should "only be done under strict containment." If implemented, the report's recommendations would paralyze research and erode India's food security, warns India's chief of crop research.

Even more damning is this: Following the release of the report, the panel's chair, Basudeb Acharia, said in no uncertain terms: "India should not go in for GM food crops."

According to the author of the piece, Pallava Bagla, the panel's recommendation has been looked upon by some "as the death knell of the development of genetically modified food crops in India," a development that, despite the country's burgeoning population, would nonetheless be a sound policy decision, given what we know about the ill effects of GM foods. Full story...

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French winemakers sound alarm over foreigners in business...

How the mainstream media deceives with its magic tricks...

Words of caution: The videos at the end of this page contain visual evidence that will change how you view the reality that you live in and help free your mind. If you are happy with how the world works and like to think that everything that you have learned throughout your life is truth, this article is probably not for you. It is probably best that you stop reading this article because you will most likely be offended. However, if you want to free your mind and find answers to why the world is such a mess, it would be a good idea to continue reading. On the other hand, if you are a truth seeker, a person who seeks for the truth with little fear of the unknown, then this article should be of great interest to you.

Mainstream media in the U.S. and most European countries usually contain roughly 25 percent truths and 75 percent distorted information and lies. The percentage of truths and lies will vary depending on the subject that is being covered. As for the media in other countries, the truths and lies will vary depending on how control their countries are.

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Why are these six corporations so interested in dominating the U.S. mainstream media? The reason is because the media is one of the most effective tools to control the mass population. When they control the media, they can influence how the public think.

Controlling how the public think is one of the first steps to controlling its mind and influencing how it thinks. In other words, this is how they enslave us without our knowledge. Influencing how we think is great for making them money, because once they influence our thought patterns to a certain degree, they can motivate us to buy their unhealthy foods and drugs, and plant false knowledge into our minds. Full story...

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Turkey has jailed more journalists than Iran, Eritrea or China...

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s government has waged one of the world’s biggest crackdowns on press freedom in recent years, jailing more journalists than Iran, China or Eritrea, a leading media watchdog said on Monday.

The damning report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) added to a chorus of criticism from the European Union and rights groups of the EU-candidate country’s mass detention of reporters, most of whom are kept in detention while their cases are dealt with.

Around two-thirds were journalists writing about the largely Kurdish southeast, where the government is fighting a separatist rebellion.

The U.S.-based watchdog criticised Erdogan’s public disparagement of journalists, the use of pressure tactics to encourage self-censorship, and the launching of thousands of criminal cases against reporters on charges such as “denigrating Turkishness”.

“Turkey’s press freedom situation has reached a crisis point,” the watchdog said in a 50-page report. Full story...

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Referee killed in Zimbabwe over disallowed goal...

AN assistant referee in a social game played in Chief Nemangwe’s area in Gokwe South died on the spot after he was struck with a log on the head by a soccer fan for allegedly ruling that the fan’s team had scored an offside goal.

Police confirmed the incident that happened in Takawira Village on Thursday last week at around 3pm.
They identified the deceased as Isaac Mbofana (34), of Takawira village.

Acting police spokesperson for Midlands, Sergeant Thandiwe Khumalo said the incident happened at Jomboringo Primary School where two boozers’ teams were playing against each other.

“It is alleged that on the said date there was a soccer tournament at Jomboringo Primary School. Isaac Mbofana, of Takawira Village and Onismo Sichani, a male adult aged 31 years, of Ndaruza Village also under Chief Nemangwe brought their respective teams to compete in the tournament. Their teams clashed at about 3pm and the now deceased Mbofana was an assistant referee in that match,” she said. Full story...

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India: Jailed Maruti Suzuki workers subjected to torture...

Around 150 Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) workers jailed by the Haryana state Congress Party government at the behest of the automaker have been brutally tortured by police, a report by a prominent Indian NGO reveals.

Employed at the MSI plant in Manesar in the northern state of Haryana, the workers have been rounded up since mid-July using lists supplied by the company and remain in detention. Manesar is located in the giant Gurgaon industrial belt, home to a large number of industries and is close to India’s capital New Delhi.

All of these workers either belong to or are aligned with the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU), which was formed after workers mounted a bitter struggle to break free from a company-sponsored stooge union. All of the leadership of MSWU has been arrested. The arrests occurred in several rounds of police raids beginning July18 after a human resources manager, Awanish Dev, was killed at the plant on July 16. The altercation occurred after a management-instigated dispute broke out on the shop floor between workers, company goons and managers. (See “India: Maruti Suzuki launches witch-hunt against workers”)

The systematic torture and humiliation of the workers was exposed by the People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) in a report published on September 27. According to the report, police have subjected the arrested workers to horrific torture both for their militant trade union activities and to scapegoat them for the death of the manager. Full story...

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If you tolerate this, your children will be next...

Singapore seeks answers to rising food prices...

In the middle of a concrete-covered housing estate in Singapore, Derrick Ng picks his way between the muddy rows of plants he is growing.

Barely bigger than a basketball field, it is an oasis of green in one of the most densely populated and urbanised cities in the world.

A former engineer, Mr Ng is one of an increasing number of people on the small island-state who are worried about the rising cost of food and have decided to try to do something about it.

And while it is a labour of love for the 31-year-old, it is also an important source of income, providing vegetables for his family's fish soup business.

"Before food prices went sky-high, my father was still able to make a living for himself," Mr Ng says, his legs and shoes caked with earth from his allotment.

"But everything was on the rise. He said it was not worth doing any more since the profit margin was pretty low. So I took over. Full story...

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As world helps shot Pakistani girl, Afghans ask "what about us?"

The global attention bestowed on a Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban has sparked outcry amongst many Afghans dismayed by what they say is the unequal response to the plight of their women and children.

Malala Yousufzai, shot by Taliban gunmen for advocating girls' education, was flown from Pakistan to Britain to receive treatment after the attack this month which drew widespread condemnation and an international outpouring of support.

"Every day an Afghan girl is abused, raped, has acid thrown on her face and mutilated. Yet no one remembers or acknowledges these girls," Elay Ershad, who represents the nomadic Kuchi people in Afghan parliament, told Reuters.

Echoing concerns of other prominent Afghan women, Ershad said the government took no real interest in women's rights, instead using the issue for political gain and currying favor with Western backers, a claim Kabul has dismissed as untrue. Full story...

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Italian scientists jailed for failing to predict earthquake...

Seven scientists and experts on trial for manslaughter linked to an earthquake in Italy that killed more than 300 people have been convicted and sentenced to six years in prison, a court has ruled.

The victims of the earthquake in L'Aquila have also been awarded between €40,000 to €450,000 ($52,000 to $584,000 Cdn), said freelance journalist Megan Williams.

Italian prosecutors say that the scientists gave inaccurate and incomplete information about whether smaller tremors before the April 2009 quake should have been grounds for an official warning.

The 6.9 magnitude earthquake left 309 people dead and injured more than 1,500 others.

Judge Marco Billi took slightly more than four hours to reach the verdict, the BBC reported. Full story...

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Indian government launches 'no lavatory, no bride' campaign...

The Indian government has launched a 'no lavatory, no bride' campaign, telling women to reject potential suitors if they cannot provide an inside lavatory.

The comments were made by India's controversial rural development minister, Jairam Ramesh, who recently angered Hindus by pointing out there were more temples than lavatories for the country's 1.2 billion people.

In a speech to villagers in Rajasthan, he said it wasn't enough for families to check astrological charts to decide if a young man is suitable, they should also inspect his closet.

"You consult astrologers about rahu-ketu (the alignment of sun and moon) before getting married. You should also look whether there is a toilet in your groom's home before you decide don't get married in a house where there is no toilet," he warned.

 His comments are part of a series of speeches and schemes to increase the number of indoor lavatories in a country where more have a mobile phone than a lavatory. Full story...

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Destaye: too young to wed...

A reason not to vote...

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The problem with this situation is simple: we're being forced to pay for things that we don't want by people we don't know that have no interest in looking out for our best interests. If we don't pay, we may be jailed, fined, penalized or financially destroyed. The fact is that this money is taken from my family under threat of force, just as it's taken from you and your family under threat of force.

Any person capable of reason can see the inescapable conclusions of that fact: taxation is not voluntary. And, since taxation is not voluntary, it is clearly a form of extortion and robbery.

Chances are that you've been brainwashed into thinking that taxation is voluntary. The government makes this claim regularly when approached on the subject (sources: Forbes, YouTube). Yet, what reasoned argument can you make to defend that position? In any other case, you would see clearly that something taken from you, under threat of force, is obviously not voluntary.

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Voting isn't just the simple act of marking a ballot on Election Day. It is a statement of principle. When you vote, you grant to others power you don't have. Do you claim to have the right to take $2,800 a month from my family and spend it as you please? Would you do so yourself? If so, you're a thief. If not, you're a hypocrite. Because, when you vote, you purport to grant this power you do not have to others. When you vote, you are a thief by proxy.

By what right do you do this? Can you even articulate your reasoning for this action that is so antithetical to freedom? I dare you to try. You might surprise yourself with the answer.

 When you vote, you participate in the theft and extortion of yourself and others. When you vote, you are an accessory to theft, extortion and all the crimes perpetrated by the beast of government. Your vote is what gives legitimacy to the illegitimate. Full story...

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Pussy Riot band members sent to remote prison camps...

Two members of the anti-Kremlin punk band Pussy Riot have been sent to remote prison camps to serve their sentences, the group has said.

Maria Alyokhina, 24, will serve the rest of her two-year term at a women's prison camp in Perm, a Siberian region notorious for hosting some of the Soviet Union's harshest camps. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, has been sent to Mordovia, a region that also hosts a high number of prisons.

"These are the harshest camps of all the possible choices," the band said via its Twitter account on Monday.

Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for performing an anti-Putin "punk anthem" in a Moscow cathedral in February. They argued that their conviction was part of a growing crackdown on free speech and political activism in Russia.

They are expected to serve the rest of their sentences, which end in March 2014, in the camps, where conditions are reportedly dire. Full story...

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Jimmy Savile: 'He was the tip of the iceberg’

The wide-ranging investigation into Sir Jimmy Savile’s depraved activities has focused attention once more on claims of a possible paedophile ring and a 'culture of cover-up’ on Jersey.

In the bleak days of March 2008, the world’s media gathered outside Haut de la Garenne, a forbidding and isolated former workhouse and children’s home on Jersey. Police were digging for possible human remains and other evidence after almost 200 former residents of the home alleged abuse, including torture and rape, by staff and visitors over many years, with claims that some youngsters had “disappeared”.

Officers from mainland British forces, who had previously taken over leadership of the local force on a mission to root out alleged “endemic corruption” within Jersey’s constabulary, led the high‑profile investigation into historical child abuse on the island.

Now two of those officers, Jersey’s former Chief Officer Graham Power and the former Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper, the senior officer in the Haut de la Garenne abuse inquiry, are backing victims’ calls for an outside force to investigate allegations that Sir Jimmy Savile and others, including some celebrities, regularly sexually abused children on Jersey.

 The shocking revelations of Savile’s depraved behaviour have, to the relief of the Jersey abuse victims, refocused attention on Haut de la Garenne. In their view, it confirms their claims that the home was at the heart of a well-protected paedophile ring. Full story...

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Cats being cats...

Brazilian newspapers give 'freeloader' Google News the boot...

Over 100 of Brazil’s main newspapers have blocked internet giant Google’s news service from using their content. They say Google News has actually reduced their site traffic and benefits commercially from material it has refused to pay for.

The 154 publications that make up Brazil’s National Association of Newspapers, known as ANJ by its Portuguese acronym, agreed unanimously to turn their backs on Google News. They cited the principal motive behind the move as the search engine’s refusal to pay for the content that it uses.

“Google News is benefiting commercially from the content it uses and is not prepared to discuss a model of remuneration for this material,” said Carlos Fernando Lindenberg Neto, president of the ANJ. Google argues that it should not have to pay for providing a service that supposedly benefits its clients.

"Staying with Google News was not helping us grow our digital audiences – on the contrary," Neto said in an interview with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. The ANJ defended its decision, stating that they had seen a drop in readership by approximately 5 per cent. Full story...

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