Sunday, January 09, 2011

Reforming the Hindus: Guha R

Reforming the Hindus

RAMACHANDRA GUHA

By contrast, the Nehru Ambedkar relationship has been consigned to obscurity.

THREE men did most to make Hinduism a modern faith. Of these the first was not recognised as a Hindu by the Shankaracharyas; the second was not recognised as a Hindu by himself; the third was born a Hindu but made certain he would not die as one.

These three great reformers were Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and B.R. Ambedkar. Gandhi and Nehru, working together, helped Hindus make their peace with modern ideas of democracy and secularism. Gandhi and Ambedkar, working by contrasting methods and in opposition to one another, made Hindus recognise the evils and horrors of the system of untouchability. Nehru and Ambedkar, working sometimes together, sometimes separately, forced Hindus to grant, in law if not always in practice, equal rights to their women.

The Gandhi-Nehru relationship has been the subject of countless books down the years. Books on the Congress, which document how these two made the party the principal vehicle of Indian nationalism; books on Gandhi, which have to deal necessarily with the man he chose to succeed him; books on Nehru, which pay proper respect to the man who influenced him more than anyone else. Books too numerous to mention, among which I might be allowed to single out, as being worthy of special mention, Sarvepalli Gopal's Jawaharlal Nehru, B.R. Nanda's Mahatma Gandhi, and Rajmohan Gandhi's The Good Boatman.

In recent years, the Gandhi-Ambedkar relationship has also attracted a fair share of attention. Some of this has been polemical and even petty; as in Arun Shourie's Worshipping False Gods (which is deeply unfair to Ambedkar), and Jabbar Patel's film "Ambedkar" (which is inexplicably hostile to Gandhi). But there have also been some sensitive studies of the troubled relationship between the upper caste Hindu who abhorred Untouchability and the greatest of Dalit reformers. These include, on the political side, the essays of Eleanor Zelliott and Denis Dalton; and on the moral and psychological side, D.R. Nagaraj's brilliant little book The Flaming Feet.

By contrast, the Nehru-Ambedkar relationship has been consigned to obscurity. There is no book about it, nor, to my knowledge, even a decent scholarly article. That is a pity, because for several crucial years they worked together in the Government of India, as Prime Minister and Law Minister respectively.

Weeks before India became independent, Nehru asked Ambedkar to join his Cabinet. This was apparently done at the instance of Gandhi, who thought that since freedom had come to India, rather than to the Congress, outstanding men of other political persuasions should also be asked to serve in Government. (Thus, apart from Ambedkar, the Tamil businessman R.K. Shanmukham Chetty, likewise a lifelong critic of the Congress, was made a member of the Cabinet, Finance Minister, no less.)

Ambedkar's work on the Constitution is well known. Less well known are his labours on the reform of Hindu personal laws. Basing himself on a draft prepared by Sir B. N. Rau, Ambedkar sought to bring the varying interpretations and traditions of Hindu law into a single unified code. But this act of codification was also an act of radical reform, by which the distinctions of caste were made irrelevant, and the rights of women greatly enhanced.

Those who want to explore the details of these changes are directed to Mulla's massive Principles of Hindu Law (now in its 18th edition), or to the works of the leading authority on the subject, Professor J.D.M. Derrett. For our purposes, it is enough to summarise the major changes as follows; (1) For the first time, the widow and daughter were awarded the same share of property as the son; (2) for the first time, women were allowed to divorce a cruel or negligent husband; (3) for the first time, the husband was prohibited from taking a second wife; (4) for the first time, a man and woman of different castes could be married under Hindu law; (5) for the first time, a Hindu couple could adopt a child of a different caste.

These were truly revolutionary changes, which raised a storm of protest among the orthodox. As Professor Derrett remarked, "every argument that could be mustered against the protest was garnered, including many that cancelled each other out". Thus "the offer of divorce to all oppressed spouses became the chief target of attack, and the cry that religion was in danger was raised by many whose real objection to the Bill was that daughters were to have equal shares with sons, a proposition that aroused (curiously) fiercer jealousy among certain commercial than among agricultural classes".

In the vanguard of the opposition was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In a single year, 1949, the RSS organised as many as 79 meetings in Delhi where effigies of Nehru and Ambedkar were burnt, and where the new Bill was denounced as an attack on Hindu culture and tradition.

A major leader of the movement against the new Bill was a certain Swami Karpatri. In speeches in Delhi and elsewhere, he challenged Ambedkar to a public debate on the new Code. To the Law Minister's claim that the Shastras did not really favour polygamy, Swami Karpatri quoted Yagnavalkya: "If the wife is a habitual drunkard, a confirmed invalid, a cunning, a barren or a spendthrift woman, if she is bitter-tongued, if she has got only daughters and no son, if she hates her husband, (then) the husband can marry a second wife even while the first is living." The Swami supplied the precise citation for this injunction: the third verse of the third chapter of the third section of Yagnavalkya's Smriti on marriage. He did not however tell us whether the injunction also allowed the wife to take another husband if the existing one was a drunkard, bitter-tongued, a spendthrift, etc.

But there were also some respectable opponents of the new Code, who included Rajendra Prasad, who in January 1950 became the President of India. In 1950 and 1951 several attempts were made to get the Bill passed. However, the opposition was so intense that it had to be dropped. Ambedkar resigned from the Cabinet in disgust, saying that Nehru had not the "earnestness and determination" required to back the Bill through to the end.

In truth, Nehru was waiting for the first General Elections. When these gave him and the Congress a popular mandate, he re-introduced the new Code, not as a single Bill but as several separate ones dealing with Marriage and Divorce, Succession, Adoption, etc. Nehru actively canvassed for these reforms, making several major speeches in Parliament and bringing his fellow Congressmen to his side.

In 1955 and 1956 these various Bills passed into law. Soon afterwards Ambedkar died. Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Nehru remarked that he would be remembered above all "as a symbol of the revolt against all the oppressive features of Hindu society". But Ambedkar, said Nehru, "will be remembered also for the great interest he took and the trouble he took over the question of Hindu law reform. I am happy that he saw that reform in a very large measure carried out, perhaps not in the form of that monumental tome that he had himself drafted, but in separate bits".

As I have said, by the strict canons of orthodoxy, Gandhi and Nehru were lapsed Hindus; Ambedkar no Hindu at all. Yet, by force of conviction and strength of character, they did more good to Hindus and Hinduism than those who claimed to be the true defenders of the faith.

Ramachandra Guha is a historian and writer based in Bangalore.

Date:18/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2004/07/18/stories/2004071800120300.htm

Swami Aseemanand's Confessions: Its Time For An Apology By Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Will RSS be banned for a fourth time? - India - DNA

Will RSS be banned for a fourth time?

DNA / Anil Anand / Saturday, January 8, 2011 1:20 IST

After Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Swami Aseemanand allegedly confessed before a magistrate that he and other Hindu leaders - Indresh Kumar, Pragya Singh and Sunil Joshi - were involved in the Samjhauta Express and other bombings at Muslim religious places, Congress demanded “strict action” against the outfit on Friday.

Stating that the confession exposed the “terror face” of RSS, party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said the “government must act and take firm action against such organisations”.

He, however, skirted a direct reply when asked if RSS should be banned. The outfit has been banned thrice in the past for various reasons.

“Reports about Aseemanand’s confession have appeared in the media. This Sanghi terrorism poses a big threat to the country,” Ahmed said.

Aseemanand, who worked for Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in Dangs, Gujarat, reportedly confessed to involvement in the Samjhauta Express blast that killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis. The swami has been quoted as saying, “I told everyone that bomb must be responded with a bomb.”

The statement made under section 164 before a magistrate will be considered key evidence.

Interestingly, the Samjhauta blast is being probed by National Investigating Agency, while Aseemanand made the confession to CBI which is interrogating him for involvement in some other cases.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

Gaddar calls for non-cooperation movement

Thursday, 06 January 2011 18:39

Telangana Praja Front (TPF) chairman and revolutionary balladeer Mr Gaddar today expressed disappointment Gaddar, non-cooperation movement over the report of the Justice Sri Krishna Committee and said the report would provoke more hatred among the three regions of the state. He asked people to launch a non-cooperation movement to put pressure on the government for achieving Telangana.

Describing the all party meeting convened by Chidambaram as a wasteful exercise, Gaddar called upon people to continue the agitation for achieving Telangana in a peaceful manner. “Let us launch a peaceful non-cooperation movement to achieve our aim,” he said in a media conference in Hyderabad.

Hundreds of people have sacrificed their lives for the sake of Telangana but the all party meeting convened by Chidambaram has arranged a funeral for the demand of separate state of Telangana, he alleged and said only a concrete agitation could bring out the Telangana state. “We are only seeking our land and our water but they are denied to us,” he lamented.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The plight of Dalits and the news media

Date:25/10/2010 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2010/10/25/stories/2010102556541300.htm

The plight of Dalits and the news media

S. Viswanathan

The new chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), P.J. Punia, has begun his tenure by making a spirited appeal to the Central government to provide job reservation for Dalits in the private sector. He did not agree that reservation in private sector was a “misnomer.” He argued that the “private sector depends on the government, nationalised banks and state-owned financial institutions for its survival and thus cannot insulate itself from reservation.” Besides, he contended during a recent meeting with journalists in Hyderabad that the private sector also had a “social responsibility” to uplift the weaker sections of the people.

The next item on the NCSC chief's agenda is to streamline the implementation of the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (earlier known as the “Special Component Plan for Scheduled Castes”) in respect of budget allocations and put an end to the diversion of funds allotted to the plan. The Commission has prioritised its tasks: ensuring reservation for Dalits in the private sector and maximising the benefits of sub plans to Dalits.

Major concern

It is not surprising that in a country in which a substantial section of the people, accounting for one-fifth of the population and segregated for centuries, remain poor, ill-treated, humiliated, and discriminated against, state intervention is the only antidote even after six decades of democratic governance under a republican Constitution. A major concern for the state is how to address the alarmingly rising unemployment among this section of society.

The Constitution provided for reservation in education and government employment for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their share in the population. This provision was made as part of the social strategy of affirmative action (or positive discrimination) to offset extreme historical discrimination and social oppression. If reservation, despite its existence for over 60 years, has failed to improve the lot of Dalits, the fault is to be seen not in the reservation system, but in the tardy way it has been implemented by the state. Disturbingly, there has been no concerted effort to take quality education to this section of the people.

The state's failure in this respect along with a flawed reservation system restricted to the entry point only helped ‘ caste-Hindu' bureaucrats to fill most of the higher posts on the ground that “qualified, eligible and fit” persons were not available among the Dalit claimants. Yet, if the establishment claims that Dalits have been appointed in government service in greater proportion than their share in population, it is because vacancies at the lowest levels are filled with Dalits, because, perhaps, no one else might be willing to offer himself for such jobs. It is surely a scandal that despite developments in technology, and in violation of a Supreme Court order, the central and State governments have failed to bring to an end the practice of manual scavenging and to rehabilitate those engaged in it in decent alternative employment.

While reservation has benefitted Dalits in general, it has not done much to elevate the majority of them to any higher position in society, mostly because of the state's failure on other fronts such as education and public health. And it must be remembered that a considerable number of these people remain outside this safety net. Over 70 per cent of Dalits live in villages and are dependant on agricultural activities.

Government policies have put severe pressure on employment in scores of public sector undertakings. Disinvestment, dismantling of public sector units and steadily falling state investment in employment-generating industries are posing serious challenges to the system developed after Independence. The policy trend of stopping or delaying recruitments has made matters worse. The policies of the governments welcoming foreign corporate bodies, very often on the investors' terms, have also contributed to the diminishing of job opportunities.

Time for another initiative

It is in this context the NCSC Chairman's decision to press for extending reservation for Dalits to the private sector needs to be viewed. A few years ago, when a demand to that effect was raised, there was a positive response from at least some industrialists, but the global economic slowdown put an end to that. Now that the position has improved in many industrial and service sectors, it is time for another initiative by the government. It needs to remind private entrepreneurs, domestic and foreign, that they have a historic responsibility to help the state implement its social commitments. The question raised by the NCSC chairman is relevant: “When the deprived sections are taken care of, even in developed countries like the United States, why can't we have the same provisions here?”

The second item on the agenda of the NCSC is to get the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan, which provides for each Ministry to allot special funds from its annual budget allocation for the benefit of Dalists, in proportion to their share in the population. The scheme, introduced in the early 1980s, has not been properly implemented for three decades. The Ministries are often charged with diverting funds under this head to other purposes.

The news media, which have recently been giving serious coverage to major Dalit problems and related issues in a complex situation, can make a real difference by bringing a new focus on the issues of reservation and the Sub-Plan. In addition to exposing atrocities against Dalits, the press, television, and radio should investigate systemic oppression, exploitation, and discrimination in greater depth.

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

Jupudi Prabhakar part 2

YouTube - Varadhi with Jupudi Prabhakar part 2

YouTube - Varadhi with Jupudi Prabhakar part 1

Monday, December 27, 2010

தமிழர் இறையாண்மை மாநாடு புகைப்படத் தொகுப்பு ~ www.thiruma.in :: திருமா . இன்

YouTube - AKARAN-VCK " THAMILAR ERAYANMAI MANADU " THIRUMAVALAVAN SPEECH PART1( WWW.THIRUMA.NET)

Gaddar, Telangana JACs Laud Telangana Congress MPs' Hunger Strike - Hyderabad News on fullhyd.com

Gaddar Lauds Telangana MPs' Fast

Gaddar says the hunger strike is the Congress leaders' first step towards redeeming themselves.

27th Dec, 2010: Telangana Praja Front president and balladeer Gaddar, on Monday, created a flutter at the camp where Congress MPs from Telangana have launched a hunger strike over the lifting of cases against students issue, when he said that he suspects leaders from the party of trying to suppress the separate statehood agitation.

The revolutionary, who arrived a few minutes after his former supporter Vimalakka left the spot, said that the Congress slogan that it alone could fulfill the dream of a Telangana state may be right if put into practice. He cynically added with a smile that the Congress is also the only party which can pull the rug from under the separate statehood movement.

Gaddar said that he had usually been suspicious about the intentions of the Congress leaders from the region, and described the hunger strike as the first step by the MPs of redeeming themselves by sticking on to their demand till it is met.

He added that political will is needed to solve the Telangana state, and that it was time the Congress leaders made an all-out shove to get the dream of crores of people fulfilled.

He also criticized the government of creating a sense of uncertainty by deploying Central Paramilitary Forces.

Meanwhile, leaders from the various JACs pushing for a separate state expressed solidarity with the MPs' hunger strike. The JAC leaders also told the MPs that if the latter submitted their resignations over the issue, the former would be responsible for ensuring that the MPs would win the ensuing by-elections.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Newspaper View:-

http://epaper.dinamani.com/epaperimages/27122010/27122010-cni-mn-05/311415.JPG

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Gaddar’s new front

Gaddar’s new front divides TJAC

Oct 06 2010

Oct. 5: Small political parties and caste organisations have decided to shift their loyalty from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)-supported Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) to the newly-created Telangana Praja Front (TPF) outfit of balladeer Gadar, who attended a steering committee meeting at TNGOs Bhavan in Hanamkonda on Tuesday evening.

While the balladeer was critical of TRS for ‘being a party having sight on polls and not on the Telangana movement’, those attending the meeting said TPF is a common platform for SC, ST, BC, minority organisations, including those outfits which follow the principles of Dr Ambedkar and Phule. “Agitation is the right way that would lead to separate Telangana and not through elections,” the balladeer said, while criticising political parties, including TRS, for ‘exploiting Telangana sentiment for electoral victories since 1969’.

Conspicuously, members of the original Warangal unit of TJAC, which is led by Prof. T. Papi Reddy in Warangal, were absent during the meeting. “For us, Gadar is more trustworthy than the TRS chief, so we would want him to lead the movement,” said D. Suresh, president, Dalit Sena.

G. Ramchandra, Warangal unit president of Lok Janshakti Party, also echoed it. “A leader should be from the masses,” he said, while blaming the TRS for denying political representation to marginalised communities in either the TJAC or TRS. P. Kommalu, a JAC member of Atmakur mandal and an activist of Telangana Rashtra Communist Party (TRCP), a breakaway group of CPI(M), said that TRCP members of Narsempet, Mulug, Warangal and Parkal would extend their support to Gadar's outfit. Criticising the TJAC led by Professor M. Kodandaram as controlled by upper castes, K. Praksham, general secretary and founder of Telangana Mala Mahanadu said, “Though Malas have differences with MRPS, on the issue of extending support to Gadar's outfit, we share the same opinion.”

Significantly, Jaisingh Rathod, Telangana Tribal JAC state convenor, said that mandal-level JAC members could support any political outfit as they are not affiliated to TRS. “All followers of Jyotiba Phule and Dr Ambedkar would follow in the footsteps of Gadar,” opined Bodapalli Murali, district president, Telangana Bahujan Students’ Federation. .

Source URL:
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/karimnagar/gaddar%E2%80%99s-new-front-divides-tjac-131

Thursday, December 23, 2010

2010 in film « P e r ∙ C r u c e m ∙ a d ∙ L u c e m

In defence of Arundhati Roy | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-12-19

In defence of Arundhati Roy

By By Khushwant Singh

Dec 19 2010

I DO not know Arundhati Roy well as I have met her briefly a couple of times. But I have unbounded admiration for her. She is good-looking, animated, unconventional, a gifted writer, gutsy and champion of lost causes. I am by no means her only admirer; she has millions of them in India and abroad. I am not wrong in believing that she is the best known Indian woman in Western democratic nations and regarded as the voice of dissent in democratic India. To penalise her will further enhance her reputation abroad and bring India a bad name.

At the moment there are two issues in which she has taken a stand which our government finds embarrassing. One is compulsory acquisition of land belonging to tribals for development projects and Kashmir. I am in partial agreement with her on both issues. We have to acquire land for development projects provided the people ousted are given adequate compensation and priority in getting jobs in the project. This has not been the case in many projects. So, Roy has every right to voice her protest. What she says about Kashmir only applies to the Valley of Jhelum and not to Jammu and Ladakh. Both she and Geelani must realise that it is too small and landlocked to become a sovereign, independent state. Moreover, it is entirely dependant on India for its livelihood. It can have a Governor of its own choice as it has its own Chief Minister. Geelani, Mirwaiz and Mohammed Mufti speak for a minority of its people; they can, and do, upset the normal tenor of life by calling hartals, pelting stones on the police and creating chaos. The Hindu-Sikh minority does not feel secure with them. Thousands of Pandits have been forced to flee from the Valley. If they come into power in a free and fair election, so will those who are still living there. If Roy rethinks over the stand she has taken, she will be heard with more respect. But to charge her with sedition is about the silliest thing to do.

The Year’s Good Reading

IN THE past I was able to read between 30-40 books every year. This time I could read only 25. But some of them impressed me deeply. On top of my list is N.S. Madhavan’s Litanies of Dutch Battery, translated from Malayalam to English by Rajesh Rajamohan (Penguin). It is an outstanding work of historical fiction which tells the story of the inhabitants of the Malabar coast from ancient times to the present; from the caste-ridden Hindu past dividing Namboodris and Ezhera toddy-tappers to Arab traders who brought Islam with them, built mosques and married local women whose children came to be known as Moplahs.

A second influx comprising Portuguese, Dutch and English brought Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans and Syrian Christians. With the increase of means of communication, Hindi films and songs of R.L Sehgal came to Kerala and brought Keralites closer to northern Indians. After Independence it became the first state of India to elect a communist regime, attain 100 per cent literacy. It is a beautiful country, rich in its flora and fauna, inland waterways, which earned it the title of being ‘God’s Own Country’. I only wish its title of the book was more comprehensible than it is.

The second on my list is Fatima Bhutto’s Songs of Blood and Sword (Penguin-Viking). It is blood-soaked tale of three Bhuttos Zulfiqar Ali who was hanged by Zia-ul Haq, his daughter Benazir, who was assassinated for reasons unknown by unknown assassins, and the cold-blooded murder of Fatima’s father, close to the entrance of his house in Karachi.

Not many people will agree with Fatima’s assessment of why these three were deprived of their lives but all readers will concede that it is beautifully written in lyrical prose.

The third is Grenta 112 (Penguin) devoted to present day Pakistani writers and poets, writing in English edited by John Freeman. It is a collection of short stories, poems and articles. Also, an informative profile of the founding father of Pakistan M.A. Jinnah.

And finally, Buddha Deb Bose’s It Rained All Night (Penguin). Bose is a born storyteller. His theme in this novel is the pretensions of chastity of the Bengali middle-class Bhadralog and reality. I found it most absorbing.

May I know the good name?

BANTA ASKED his neighbour’s four-year-old daughter: “Beti what is your Papa’s name?
She replied, “My mummy has not yet given him any name. So we call him Papa.”

(Contributed by J.P Singh Kaka, Bhopal)

Overheard at cricket panel meet

THE FOLLOWING dialogue was overheard during a meeting of the governing body of Cricket tournaments.

Present Chairman to the ousted Chairman Lalit Modi: “I suggest you call it a day as all the best cricketers are with me.”
Lalit Modi: “That may be so, but all the umpires are with me.”

(Contributed by B.T. Modi, Bengaluru)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Bryn Mawr Classical Review: 2010.12.59

Jeremy McInerney, The Cattle of the Sun: Cows and Culture in the World
of the Ancient Greeks. Princeton/Oxford: Princeton University Press,
2010. Pp. xvii, 340. ISBN 97806911400. $45.00.
Reviewed by Susan A. Curry, University of New Hampshire

In The Cattle of the Sun: Cows and Culture in the World of the Ancient
Greeks, J. McInerney argues convincingly that cattle continued to play
a central role within the Greek imaginaire long after it became
impractical for Greek households to keep and pasture large herds of
cattle. Although by the Classical period the Greeks could no longer be
described as transhumanant pastoralists, McInerney discusses how the
Greeks retained a "bovine register," never entirely abandoning "the
herder's habits of mind" (4). Later Greek practices and cultural
artifacts evince this "bovine register" and preserve traces of a time
in Greece's history when cows were, indeed, king. On the whole,
McInerney's book is stronger on the historical and religious aspects
of Greek cattle culture than on the role cattle played in Greek
literary culture, but readers interested in early Greek pastoralism,
land management, the evolution of sanctuaries, the ancient Greek
economy, and, to a lesser extent, animal studies will discover much of
value. Scholars interested in extending the discussion of the role
cows played in the Greek imaginaire through analyses of later Greek
sayings, literature, and visual art will find McInerney's
demonstration of the deeply embedded importance of cattle in Greek
society a solid historical foundation on which to build.

In Chapter 1, "Cattle Habits," which serves as an introduction,
McInerney is careful to stress that the cow is not just a symbol to
the ancient Greeks. He employs Pierre Bourdieu's term habitus "'a
system of internalized schemes that have the capacity to generate all
thoughts, perceptions, and actions characteristic of a culture'" as a
way of understanding the complex, enduring relationship between Greeks
and their cattle (5). This term does two kinds of work for McInerney.
It allows for how several Greek cultural institutions "are refracted
through the prism of herding" and "it can continue to reflect
notions, values, and experiences that inform the individual's
perceptions and the culture's shared grammar of symbols and ideas long
after the empirical circumstances that gave rise to any part of it are
changed or lost" (5). In other words, the continued expression of
institutions such as marriage in terms of cattle suggests the
institutions' cattle-based past even though herding no longer played a
central role in daily life.

McInerney delves into that pastoralist past in Chapters 2 and 3. In
Chapter 2, "The Paradoxes of Pastoralism," he traces the development
of pastoralist societies, the breeding of herds, and the differences
between killing a wild animal in hunting and a domesticated animal
with which one has an ongoing relationship. Unlike hunting, which
"depends upon luck or the cooperation of the gods," killing a
domesticated animal is a kind of betrayal that "favors a sacralized
treatment" (37). This paradox at the heart of pastoralism, that one
kills what one has tended and nourished, gives rise to certain
features of Greek sacrifice, the need to trick the sacrificial animal
or to gain its consent. The bull, too, complicates the role cattle
play in Greek culture. For the bull, though technically domesticated,
remains wild and dangerous. McInerney concludes Chapter 2 with a
discussion of how bulls and kingship become linked in Near Eastern
culture citing the role of the bull in the Epic of Gilgamesh in
particular (40-47). The intertwining of bulls and kings is complex and
fascinating, and one wishes McInerney had engaged with this topic more
deeply.

In Chapter 3, "Cattle Systems in Bronze Age Greece," McInerney
examines how cattle occupied a special place within the Minoan and
Mycenaean economies. Because cattle were a "luxury item of enormous
value" to the Minoans, palaces like Knossos tightly controlled the
cattle system even as they relied on regional cooperation for cattle
production (52-53). Knossos also had a monopoly of sorts on bull-
leaping, an important religious expression of Minoan cattle culture.
The palace employed specialists in bull-leaping whose performances
helped make Knossos the center of both real and symbolic cattle
culture. Meanwhile, at the palace at Pylos, the social ritual of
feasting required a ready supply of cattle. The palace, subordinate
communities, and wealthy individuals kept herds (63), but after the
palace system came to an end, herding and feasting remained markers of
elite status.

The fall of the palace system and with it palace control of herding
and feasting lead nicely into Chapters 4 and 5, "Epic Consumption" and
"Heroes and Gods." In these chapters, McInerney explores the literary
and mythological evidence for the continued cultural importance of
cows, relying mostly on Homer and Hesiod. In "Epic Consumption,"
McInerney analyzes the references to cows and cow-related activities
such as plowing in the Iliad and Odyssey and discusses the important
role feasting played in the lives of the Homeric heroes. In "Heroes
and Gods," McInerney focuses on Odysseus and Herakles as cattle
raiders and the associations between the Olympian gods and cattle.
While these chapters serve to extend the discussion of cows from the
practical into the cultural, they are, in my opinion, the weakest of
the book. McInerney makes several excellent points (such as linking
the eating of the cattle of the sun to the punishment of the suitors)
but these points could have been made very quickly and the remaining
discussion offers little that will be new to readers familiar with
Homeric scholarship.

In Chapters 6-8, "Gods, Cattle, and Space," "Sacred Economics," and
"Cities and Cattle Business," McInerney demonstrates how cattle moved
from the heroic household to the Greek sanctuary. In other words,
Greek sanctuaries within and without the polis became centers for
those important Greek practices: herding, sacrificing, and feasting as
a community. McInerney discusses how gods became associated with
specific places, how the Panhellenic sanctuary provided a valuable
counterpoint to the institution of the city-state, and, most
importantly for readers interested in cows, how sanctuaries in cities
and in the countryside acquired enough cattle for sacrifice at a time
when the individual keeping of large herds as wealth had long passed.
In Athens, for example, "the commercialization of the meat supply
arose in response to pressure on the sacred economy to keep up with
demand" (195).

Having established the importance of sanctuaries, in Chapter 9,
"Sacred Law," McInerney discusses the role sanctuaries played in the
development of law, providing plentiful evidence for Greek laws'
origins in sacred law and the retention of traces of the sacred in
later polis laws. While McInerney effectively describes how
sanctuaries kept and acquired herds of cattle and makes the very
important point that commercial and sacred economies intermingle in
the sourcing of sacrificial victims, cows take second place to larger
historical issues. My biggest beef with this book is that in the
second half the author seems to lose track of his cows: I often had
the feeling that he was primarily interested in the history of
sanctuaries, their relationship to the polis, and their importance to
the development of Greek law.

In Chapter 10, "Authority and Value," McInerney ties a number of
cultural components together in his discussion of the role cows and
cattle-related accoutrements played in the development of Greek
coinage. Rejecting the notion that coinage was a simple adoption by
the Greeks of Near Eastern practices, McInerney argues that "cattle
wealth spurred the growth of a monetized economy by combining wealth,
value, and exchange into a single institution" (233). He suggests that
this involved several mental steps, pointing out that "in the sixth
century obeloi and drachmai originally referred to handfuls of iron
spits, used first for roasting sacrificial animals and subsequently
dedicated as valuable objects" and that "wealth could be expressed and
measured by coins that depicted cows" instead of by cattle themselves
(230). The images of cows on coins are a reminder of a time when
living cows were the measure of wealth. In Chapter 11, "Conclusions,"
McInerney pushes his thesis concerning the pervasive influence of
cattle on Greek culture even further using the idea of sacrifice to
tie pastoralism to the founding of Athenian democracy. Cows and
citizens both shed blood for the community.

One of the great strengths of this work is the author's use of
contemporary cattle-based cultures to help the reader understand
ancient Greek practices. While careful not to suggest that all
pastoralist societies or cattle-based cultures are alike or to present
a simplistic understanding of the role cattle play in their lives,
McInerney refers to the Ao, Bahima, Basotho, Dafla, Dinka, Fulani,
Gogo, Herrero, Maasai, Nuer, Tshidi and Xhosa to illustrate a variety
of beliefs and practices among cattle-focused people. In Chapter 10,
for example, McInerney discusses whether Bronze Age copper ingots were
intentionally fashioned to resemble oxhides. After noting that an
Ingot God, represented as a man with horns, was associated with
precious metal and the mining industry of Cyprus, McInerney shows how
cattle can "combine exchange value and symbolic importance" by
discussing the Tshidi, who use tokens described as "cattle without
legs" for transactions like marriage contract payments, and the
Basotho of Lesotho, for whom cattle are a special commodity set apart
from the regular cash economy by virtue of their being living
creatures (229).

These comparisons with other contemporary cultures, often fascinating
in themselves, also raise additional questions about cattle in the
ancient Greek context. I lived and taught for a few months in Lesotho
myself and was amazed at how the symbolic value of cattle affected so
many aspects of daily life. A kindergarten classroom, for example,
often combined six-year-old girls and teenage boys. Since boys herded
the cattle, they could only begin kindergarten once a younger brother
became old enough to take over. NGOs often have difficulty convincing
the Basotho to keep smaller herds for a number of practical reasons,
because cattle are not a simple economic investment. The symbolic
value of cows influences many aspects of day-to-day life in rural
Lesotho, and one also wonders about the life of ancient Greek herders
far away from towns and cities. McInerney touches on the
practicalities of a herding culture when he discusses rural
sanctuaries, but many questions remain. For example, if cattle
continued to imbue Greek cultural life long after large herds became
the business of sanctuaries, did the ancient Greeks experience this
transition as a trauma in any way? Is there a sense of loss or
nostalgia in the traces of cattle culture that remain in the myths,
literature, and coinage of ancient Greece?

If the reader is left with additional questions after an entire book
on cow culture in ancient Greece, this is a credit to McInerney's
engaging study. Any reader left wanting more will find McInerney's
extensive bibliography an excellent starting point. While foremost a
study of the role cattle played in the development of sanctuaries and
the role sanctuaries played in the development of law and a monetized
economy in ancient Greece, The Cattle of the Sun also provides a solid
contribution to the burgeoning field of animal studies and a
historical counterpoint to future discussions of animals in ancient
myth, art, and literature.

Why are Jews so powerful and Muslims so powerless?

Dr. Farrukh Saleem

The writer is the Pakistani Executive Director of the Center for Research and Security Studies, a think tank established in 2007, and an Islamabad-based freelance columnist.

There are only 14 million Jews in the world; seven million in the Americas, five million in Asia, two million in Europe and 100,000 in Africa. For every single Jew in the world there are 100 Muslims. Yet, Jews are more than a hundred times more powerful than all the Muslims put together. Ever wondered why?
Jesus was Jewish. Albert Einstein, the most influential scientist of all time and TIME magazine's 'Person of the Century', was a Jew. Sigmund Freud - ego, superego - the father of psychoanalysis was a Jew. So were Karl Marx, Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman.
Here are a few other Jews whose intellectual output has enriched the whole of humanity: Benjamin Rubin gave humanity the vaccinating needle. Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine. Albert Sabin developed the improved live polio vaccine. Gertrude Elion gave us a leukemia-fighting drug. Baruch Blumberg developed the vaccination for Hepatitis B. Paul Ehrlich discovered a treatment for syphilis (a sexually transmitted disease). Elie Metchnikoff won a Nobel Prize in infectious diseases.
Bernard Katz won a Nobel Prize in neuromuscular transmission. Andrew Schally won a Nobel in endocrinology (disorders of the endocrine system; diabetes, hyperthyroidism). Aaron Beck founded Cognitive Therapy (psychotherapy to treat mental disorders, depression and phobias). Gregory Pincus developed the first oral contraceptive pill. George Wald won a Nobel for furthering our understanding of the human eye. Stanley Cohen won a Nobel in embryology (study of embryos and their development). Willem Kolff came up with the kidney dialysis machine.
Over the past 105 years, 14 million Jews have won 180 Nobel Prizes while only 3 Nobel Prizes have been won by 1.4 billion Muslims (other than Peace Prizes).
Why are Jews so powerful? Stanley Mezor invented the first micro-processing chip. Leo Szilard developed the first nuclear chain reactor; Peter Schultz, the optical fiber cable; Charles Adler - traffic lights; Benno Strauss - stainless steel; Isador Kisee - sound movies; Emile Berliner - the telephone microphone and Charles Ginsburg - the videotape recorder.
Famous financiers in the business world who belong to the Jewish faith include Ralph Lauren (Polo), Levis Strauss (Levi's Jeans), Howard Schultz (Starbuck's) , Sergey Brin (Google), Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Donna Karan (DKNY), Irv Robbins (Baskins & Robbins) and Bill Rosenberg (Dunkin Donuts).
Richard Levin, President of Yale University, is a Jew. So are Henry Kissinger (American secretary of state), Alan Greenspan (Federal Chairman of Banking under Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush, Jr.), Joseph Lieberman, Senator, Madeleine Albright (former Secretary of State), Maxim Litvinov (USSR Foreign Minister), David Marshal (Singapore's first Chief Minister), Issac Isaacs (Governor-General of Australia), Benjamin Disraeli (British statesman and author), Yevgeny Primakov (Russian Prime Minister), Jorge Sampaio (President of Portugal), Herb Gray (Canadian Deputy Prime Minister), Pierre Mendes (French Prime Minister), Michael Howard (British Home Secretary), Bruno Kreisky (Chancellor of Austria) and Robert Rubin (former Secretary of the Treasury).
In the media, famous Jews include Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Barbara Walters (ABC News), Eugene Meyer (Washington Post), Henry Grunwald (Editor-in-Chief of Time Magazine), Katherine Graham (publisher of The Washington Post), Joseph Lelyyeld (Executive Editor, The New York Times), and Max Frankel (New York Times).
Can you name the most beneficent philanthropist in the history of the world? The name is George Soros, a Jew, who has so far donated a colossal $4 billion; most of which has gone as aid to scientists and universities around the world. Second to George Soros is Walter Annenberg, another Jew, who has built a hundred libraries by donating an estimated $2 billion.
At the Olympics, Mark Spitz set a record of sorts by wining seven gold medals. Lenny Krayzelburg is a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Spitz, Krayzelburg and Boris Becker (Tennis) are all Jewish.
Did you know that Harrison Ford, George Burns, Tony Curtis, Charles Bronson, Sandra Bullock, Barbra Streisand, Billy Crystal, Woody Allen, Paul Newman, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Kirk Douglas, William Shatner, Jerry Lewis and Peter Falk are all Jewish?

So, why are Jews so powerful? Answer: Education.

As a matter of fact, Hollywood itself was founded by a Jew. Among directors and producers, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Oliver Stone, Aaron Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210), Neil Simon (The Odd Couple), Andrew Vaina (Rambo's 1, 2 and 3), Michael Mann (Starsky and Hutch), Milos Forman (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Douglas Fairbanks (The Thief of Baghdad) and Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) are all Jewish.
To be certain, Washington is the capital that matters and in Washington the lobby that matters is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Washington knows that if PM Ehud Olmert were to discover that the earth is flat, AIPAC will make the 109th Congress pass a resolution congratulating Olmert on his discovery.
William James Sidis, with an IQ of 250-300, is the brightest human who ever existed. Guess what faith did he belong to?
So, why are Jews so powerful?
Answer: Education.
Why are Muslims so powerless?
There are an estimated 1,476,233,470 Muslims on the face of the planet: one billion in Asia, 400 million in Africa, 44 million in Europe and six million in the Americas. Every fifth human being is a Muslim. For every single Hindu there are two Muslims, for every Buddhist there are two Muslims and for every Jew there are one hundred Muslims. Ever wondered why Muslims are so powerless?
Here is why: There are 57 member-countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), and all of them put together have around 500 universities; one university for every three million Muslims. The United States has 5,758 universities (1 for every 57,000 Americans) and India has 8,407. In 2004, Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiled an 'Academic Ranking of World Universities', and intriguingly, not one university from Muslim-majority states was in the top 500.
As per data collected by the UNDP, literacy in the Christian world stands at nearly 90 per cent and 15 Christian-majority states have a literacy rate of 100 per cent. A Muslim-majority state, as a sharp contrast, has an average literacy rate of around 40 per cent and there is no Muslim-majority state with a literacy rate of 100 per cent. Some 98 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world had completed primary school, while less than 50 per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same. Around 40 per cent of the 'literates' in the Christian world attended university while no more than two per cent of the 'literates' in the Muslim world did the same.

Why are Muslims powerless? Because we aren't producing and applying knowledge.

Muslim-majority countries have 230 scientists per one million Muslims. The U.S. has 4,000 scientists per million and Japan has 5,000 per million. In the entire Arab world, the total number of full-time researchers is 35,000 and there are only 50 technicians per one million Arabs (in the Christian world there are up to 1,000 technicians per one million). Furthermore, the Muslim world spends 0.2 per cent of its GDP on research and development, while the Christian world spends around five per cent of its GDP.
Conclusion: The Muslim world lacks the capacity to produce knowledge.
Daily newspapers per 1,000 people and number of book titles per million are two indicators of whether knowledge is being diffused in a society. In Pakistan, there are 23 daily newspapers per 1,000 Pakistanis while the same ratio in Singapore is 360. In the UK, the number of book titles per million stands at 2,000 while the same in Egypt is 20.
Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to diffuse knowledge.
Exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports are an important indicator of knowledge application. Pakistan's exports of high technology products as a percentage of total exports stands at one per cent. The same for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait , Morocco, and Algeria (are all at 0.3 per cent) while Singapore is at 58 per cent.
Conclusion: The Muslim world is failing to apply knowledge.
Why are Muslims powerless?
Because we aren't producing knowledge.
Why are Muslims powerless?
Because we aren't diffusing knowledge.
Why are Muslims powerless?
Because we aren't applying knowledge.
And, the future belongs to knowledge-based societies.
Interestingly, the combined annual GDP of 57 OIC-countries is under $2 trillion. America, just by herself, produces goods and services worth $12 trillion; China - $8 trillion, Japan - $3.8 trillion and Germany - $2.4 trillion (purchasing power parity basis).
Oil rich Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar collectively produce goods and services (mostly oil) worth $500 billion; Spain alone produces goods and services worth over $1 trillion; Catholic Poland - $489 billion and Buddhist Thailand - $545 billion. Muslim GDP, as a percentage of worlds GDP, is fast declining.
So, why are Muslims so powerless?
Answer: Lack of education.
All we do is shouting to Allah the whole day and blame everyone else for our multiple failures.

This article can also be read at: http://www.aish.com/jw/me/Jews_Muslims__Power.html

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

BBC News - Neanderthal family found cannibalised in cave in Spain

21 December 2010 Last updated at 16:59 ET

Neanderthal family found cannibalised in cave in Spain

By Neil Bowdler Science reporter, BBC News

Archaeologists excavate the cave in El Sidron in Asturias, northern Spain

Archaeologists in Spain have unearthed the remains of a possible family of 12 Neanderthals who were killed 49,000 years ago.

Markings on the bones show the unmistakeable signs of cannibal activity, say the researchers, with the group having probably been killed by their peers.

The remains were found in a cave in the Asturias region of Northern Spain. Details of the find appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Although the highly fragmented bones of six adults and six children were found in a cave, it is thought they probably lived and died on the surface before the ground collapsed beneath them naturally after their death.

Their end was a bloody one, with distinct markings on the bones showing they fell victim to cannibalism.

"They all show signs of cannibalism. They have cut marks on many bones including skulls and mandibles," said Professor Carles Lalueza-Fox of Barcelona's Institute of Evolutionary Biology, who lead the research.

"The long bones have been fragmented to obtain the marrow so all the signs of cannibalism that have been described... in other Neanderthal sites are present in all these individuals."

Staying home

The claim that the group were a family comes from analysis of their mitochondrial DNA, genetic material found within animal cells that is passed down the female line.

The genetic data suggested that while the three adult males in the group shared the same maternal lineage, the three adult females had different maternal origins.

Proof, say the researchers, that at least in this Neanderthal family, the women came from outside the group, while the men remained within the family group on reaching maturity.

This model of what is called "patrilocality" is often seen among modern humans, says Professor Lalueza-Fox, with men remaining in the family home in many societies across the world.

BBC News - African elephant is two species, researchers say

21 December 2010 Last updated at 16:53 ET

African elephant is two species, researchers say

By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

Poaching is a major concern in parts of Africa - especially of forest elephants

Genetic researchers may have resolved a long-standing dispute by proving there are two species of African elephant.

Savannah and forest elephants have been separated for at least three million years, they say, and are as distinct from each other as Asian elephants are from the extinct woolly mammoth.

The researchers also made what they say are the first sequences of nuclear DNA from the extinct American mastodon.

The study is reported in the journal Public Library of Science Biology.

The debate over whether the African elephant is one or two species has been going on for about a decade.

Weighing in at six or seven tonnes, the much larger elephants found on savannah are about twice as heavy as forest-dwellers.

This, along with other differences in size and shape, has led some researchers to conclude there are two species - the savannah (or bush) elephant, Loxodonta africana, and the forest species, Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis.

The scientists - from the US, UK and Germany - now say they have proved the case.

"The divergence of the two species took place around the time of the divergence of the Asian elephant and woolly mammoths," said Michi Hofreiter, a specialist in ancient DNA at the UK's York University.

"The split between African savannah and forest elephants is almost as old as the split between humans and chimpanzees. This result amazed us all."

Ancient and modern

“Start Quote

The species is listed as Vulnerable but it's possible that if there are two, one would come out in a more serious category”

End Quote Simon Stuart IUCN

The researchers compared sequences of DNA from the nuclei of African and Asian elephants, and from woolly mammoths and the American mastodon.

All are members of the Proboscidae order of mammals.

The mastodon became extinct about 10,000 years ago - around the same time that mammoths disappeared from most of their range.

Although mastodon mitochondrial DNA has been sequenced before, the researchers say they were the first to do the analysis on DNA from the cell nucleus - in this case, using material from a tooth.

"Experimentally, we had a major challenge to extract DNA sequences from two fossils - mammoths and mastodons - and line them up with DNA from modern elephants over hundreds of sections of the genome," said Nadin Rohland of Harvard Medical School.

The genetic "distance" between the Asian elephant and the woolly mammoth turned out to be about the same as between the two African elephant species - which, the researchers say, proves the case for two distinct species in Africa now.

Fragmented world

The picture of elephant conservation across Africa is a mixed one.

The researchers say they have also done the first nuclear genetic analysis of the American mastodon

In southern countries, the animals are thriving, with populations increasing so fast that governments have had to consider culls.

However, the picture is very different in Central and West Africa, where poaching, ivory smuggling and the bushmeat trade are fragmenting populations.

If there are indeed two species, the forest dwellers are the ones most under pressure, as they tend to be found in areas where poaching and smuggling are rife.

Potentially, confirming the separation could help direct conservation efforts where they are most needed, according to Simon Stuart, chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission (SSC).

"We'd have to review the evidence to see whether we need to split the African elephant into two entries on the Red List of Threatened Species," he told BBC News.

"Currently the species is listed as Vulnerable but it's possible that if there are two, one would come out in a more serious category and the other in a less serious one.

"This could be helpful for highlighting the Central African issue."

However, he cautioned, other research groups may well challenge the conclusion of the latest study, and the debate may have some way to run.

சிறுத்தைகளின் அரசியல் பலம் - சோலை ~ www.thiruma.in :: திருமா . இன்

Karum chiruththai

WHAT WAS THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY?

The Black Panther Party was a progressive political organization that stood in the vanguard of the most powerful movement for social change in America since the Revolution of 1776 and the Civil War: that dynamic episode generally referred to as The Sixties. It is the sole black organization in the entire history of black struggle against slavery and oppression in the United States that was armed and promoted a revolutionary agenda, and it represents the last great thrust by the mass of black people for equality, justice and freedom.

The Party's ideals and activities were so radical, it was at one time assailed by FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the United States." And, despite the demise of the Party, its history and lessons remain so challenging and controversial that established texts and media would erase all reference to the Party from American history.

The Black Panther Party was the manifestation of the vision of Huey P. Newton, the seventh son of a Louisiana family transplanted to Oakland, California. In October of 1966, in the wake of the assassination of black leader Malcolm X and on the heels of the massive black, urban uprising in Watts, California and at the height of the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Newton gathered a few of his longtime friends, including Bobby Seale and David Hilliard, and developed a skeletal outline for this organization. It was named, originally, the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The black panther was used as the symbol because it was a powerful image, one that had been used effectively by the shortlived voting rights group the Lowndes County (Alabama) Freedom Organization. The term "self defense" was employed to distinguish the Party's philosophy from the dominant nonviolent theme of the civil rights movement, and in homage to the civil rights group the Louisiana based Deacons for Defense. These two, symbolic references were, however, where all similarity between the Black Panther Party and other black organizations of the time, the civil rights groups and black power groups, ended.

Immediately, the leadership of the embryonic Party outlined a Ten Point Platform and Program (see the end of this article for full text). This Platform & Program articulated the fundamental wants and needs, and called for a redress of the longstanding grievances, of the black masses in America, still alienated from society and oppressed despite the abolition of slavery at the end of the Civil War. Moreover, this Platform & Program was a manifesto that demanded the express needs be met and oppression of blacks be ended immediately, a demand for the right to self defense, by a revolutionary ideology and by the commitment of the membership of the Black Panther Party to promote its agenda for fundamental change in America.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE FOUNDING OF THE PARTY

http://www.blackpanther.org/legacynew.htm

There was no question that the end of the several centuries of the institution of slavery of blacks had not resulted in the assimilation of blacks into American society. Indeed, there was a violent, postemancipation white backlash, manifested in the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, endorsed by the benign neglect of the President and the Congress, codified in the so called Black Codes. The rampant Iynching of blacks became a way of life in America, along with the de facto denial to blacks of every civil right, including the rights to vote, to worship, to use public facilities.

From that time forward, then, blacks were obliged to wage fierce survival struggles in America, creating at once the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) to promote integration of blacks into society as full, firstclass citizens and the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association) of Marcus Garvey to promote independence of blacks and eventually a return to Africa. At the same time, there were the effective efforts of former slave Booker T. Washington to establish a separate socioeconomic scheme for blacks. America's response to all such efforts was violent and repressive and unyielding. Thus, despite the mass uprisings by blacks in resistance to the unrelenting violence and the law's delay, despite tacit urgings by blacks to be afforded some means to survive, despite the bold endeavors by blacks to live separate lives in America or leave America, for the next half century, blacks, in the main, found themselves denied of every possible avenue to either establish their own socioeconomic independence or participate fully in the larger society.

Not until nearly 60 years after Plessy was there even the most minimal relief, in the Supreme Court's holding in the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education. In Brown, the Supreme Court stated that "separate" was "not equal" for blacks in America (at least with respect to public education). It is noteworthy that Dr. Kenneth Clark (the black psychologist on whose study the Brown court based its findings as to the negative impact on black children of the separate but equal doctrine) noted in 1994 that American schools were more segregated at that time than in 1954, when Brown was decided.

Even after Brown, blacks struggled to integrate and become full partisans in American society, to no avail. From the famous 1955, Montgomery (Alabama) bus boycott to the subsequent voter rights efforts to the dangerous sit ins in all white public facilities led by SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) workers, the civil rights movement challenged America. Under the spiritual guidance and the nonviolent philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. millions, blacks and whites, protested and marched for freedom and justice for America's black minority, as so many were murdered or maimed for life along the way. Finally, in 1964, the U.S. Congress passed a civil rights act that outlawed racial segregation in public facilities.

It was too little too late. As the images of nonviolent blacks and other civil rights workers and demonstrators being beaten and water hosed by police, spat on and jailed, merely for protesting social injustices shot across America's television screens (a new and compelling phenomenon in American life and popular culture), young urban blacks rejected nonviolence. The full expression of this was the violent protest to the brutal police beating of a black man in Watts (Los Angeles), California in the 1965 rebellion that shocked America and set off other such responses to oppression. By 1967, there had been more than 100 major black, urban rebellions in cities across the country. In the same time frame of the same year, 1965, the Vietnam war erupted. As television reports revealed the horrible realities of the war, good American soldiers killing Vietnamese children, America's white youth called the question, and rallied against the war. America's youth, black and white, had become openly hostile to the established order.

Up in the air: The legacy of the New Communist Movement : Platypus

Friday, December 17, 2010

Caste discrimination exists in UK, says govt report

Caste discrimination exists in UK, says govt report

Caste discrimination exists in UK, says govt report

17 December 2010
Press Trust of India
LONDON, 17 DEC: Caste-based discrimination exists across Britain, a new research commissioned by UK government has found, prompting further calls to outlaw the malpractice that blights the lives of many people with origins in the Indian sub-continent.
The research, commissioned as part of the debate over the Equalities Bill 2010 that received royal assent in April, was conducted by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), which published its findings yesterday.
Now termed The Equalities Act 2010, the Bill specifically mentions caste under the section Race. India's position at international fora has always been that caste is not an aspect of race. It had succeeded in keeping caste out of the resolution adopted at the 2001 Durban conference on racism organised by the United Nations.
The Act says in Part 2, Chapter 1: “A Minister of the Crown may by order(a) amend this Section so as to provide for caste to be an aspect of race; (b) amend this Act so as to provide for an exception to a provision of this Act to apply, or not to apply, to caste or to apply, or not to apply, to caste in specified circumstances.”
The main provisions of the Act came into force in October, according to the Government Equalities Office. The latest research presents several examples of caste-based discrimination in schools, workplaces, markets, services, politics, places of worship, health and social care. It discussed the claims of groups that insisted on the existence of the practice as well as those who denied it existed in Britain.
The report recommended that “extending the definition of race to include caste would provide further, explicit protection”.
It adds that legislations would be the most effective way to tackle it because, “relying on the Indian community to take action to reduce caste discrimination and harassment is problematic.”
The report says: “Caste awareness in Britain is concentrated amongst people with roots in the Indian sub-continent (who comprise five per cent of the population). It is not religion specific and is subscribed to by (and affects) members of any or no religion.”
The study identified evidence suggesting caste discrimination and harassment of the type covered by the Equality Act 2010 in relation to: work (bullying, recruitment, promotion, task allocation); provision of services; and education (pupil on pupil bullying).
The caste discrimination and harassment identified in the study was by higher castes against the lowest castes, the report says and adds that there is no clear evidence on whether the extent of caste discrimination and harassment is changing. Reacting to the report, Lekh Pal of the Anti-Caste Discrimination Alliance (ACDA), said: NIESR's findings confirm what ACDA and a number of organisations have been telling the government, that is, that caste discrimination occurs in the UK and such discrimination falls within the ambit of the Equality Act 2010.”
He added: “We would urge all to press the government to enact the long overdue clause on caste contained in the Equality Act 2010.”

Friday, December 10, 2010

'Indians are not fools, they know who's corrupt and not' | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-12-10

'Indians are not fools, they know who's corrupt and not'

Dec 10 2010

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today upheld its controversial remarks that something was 'rotten' in the Allahabad High Court where the 'uncle judges syndrome' was rampant and needed cleansing.

A bench of justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra, while dismissing the Allahabad High Court's application for expunging of the remarks, however, clarified that there were 'excellent and good judges too' in the court.

Rejecting the arguments of senior counsel P.P. Rao that even a clarification that some are excellent and good judges would still cause suspicion on the integrity of the judges, the bench remarked, "It is not just time to react but also to introspect."

Reacting to the persistent plea of Rao that the clarification would not be sufficient, Justice Katju angrily retorted, "Do not tell all those things. I and my family have more than 100 years of association with the Allahabad High Court. People know who is corrupt and who is honest. So do not tell me all this."

Justice Katju further observed, "Tomorrow, if Markandey Katju starts taking bribe, then the entire country will know about it. So do not tell me as to who is honest and who is corrupt."

Rao submitted that the earlier observations had tarnished the image of the entire High Court judiciary and the rustic would not be able to distinguish between a honest and a corrupt judge.

"Do not tell me all those things about the rustic. They are much more enlightened. Do not think people of India are fools," the bench observed while dismissing the application.

The Allahabad High Court had taken strong exception to the apex court's remarks that 'something was rotten' and there was 'rampant uncle judge syndrome' in the higher court.

In an application moved through its registry, the High Court had sought expunction of the remarks on the ground that they "have made difficult" for the judges to function and tarnished the reputation of the entire judiciary in Uttar Pradesh.

"The remarks are unfortunate and uncalled for and has brought down the image of the Allahabad High Court judges in the eyes of the general public. The observations have made it difficult for the judges to function," the application had stated.

Source URL:
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/national/indian-are-not-fools-they-know-whos-corrupt-and-not-679

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

African Pouched Rats Sniff Out Unexploded Landmines

Sunday, December 05, 2010

civilrightsgroup

Monday, November 29, 2010

Song of Songs

Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon is a book in the bible that is so explicit, young Jewish boys were not allowed to read it until they were determined to be of a certain responsible age. It not only wows with it’s poetic imagery and it’s erotic setting, but it captures a love that is rapturous, as God desires monogamy in marriage to be. Finally, it is a metaphor of the kind of intimacy in prayer that is desired by the Lord for His people, and a precursor to the union of Jesus the bridegroom with His Bride, the church.

Several of the questions that I’ve received through the years have to do with the sexual activity that the Bible refers to. So I read through the Bible’s most metaphorical and explicit book on sexuality, and I have no doubt that after reading it, you’ll discard ANY notion that sex within marriage is designed to be dull or boring. Here’s how another pastor puts it:

The Song of Songs gives great liberty to sexual freedom and the full use of all five senses.
1. kissing (SOS 1:2)
2. oral/fellatio – her initiative (SOS 2:3)
3. manual stimulation – her invitation (SOS 2:6)
4. petting – his initiative (SOS 4:5)
5. oral/cunnilingus – his initiative (SOS 4:12-5:1)
6. striptease – (SOS 6:13b-7:9)
7. new places, positions, etc. including outdoors – her initiative (SOS 7:11-13)

As long as both participants in the marriage bed are feeling comfortable and honored, then there is great freedom and enjoyment planned by the Lord there.

Is it hot in here? I’ll say: the last time I taught this material my Father in Law was in the front row! I had to tell him, “Randy, after 13 years of marriage and 2 kids, you need to know…I’ve been sleeping with your daughter!” It just felt good to get that off my chest.

Remember, there are three types of sex for married couples:
1. Practice. Talking, communicating, discovering what sorts of things that both of you enjoy together.
2. Maintenance. This is due to high levels of exhaustion, and it’s sort of the minimum requirement necessary. Many couples live here, and it’s one of the reasons why the spark isn’t sparking like it used to.
3. Feasting. This is when you prioritize date nights, weekends away, and even vacations together without the kiddos. Again, for a Biblical example of feasting, read through Song of Solomon together, by yourselves, listening to your favorite romantic tunes with the fire roaring and the kids at grandma’s house for the night.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

No, not Kashmir again | Deccan Chronicle | 2010-11-14

Kashmir has become a boring subject because it is the same story day after day: Hartals, stone-pelting, police firings a few killed. It is no longer front-page news in any paper. Recently, a few new items attracted media attention. The first was Arundhati Roy’s unprovoked statement that Kashmir was never a part of India. It was promptly followed by a well-planned protest outside her home by the ladies-wing of the BJP with TV cameramen on the ready for the show. The other was about the government-appointed interlocutors’ visit to Srinagar and neighbouring towns to enlighten us of what is going on and make suggestions about how to improve matters.

Everyone will agree that Arundhati Roy had every right to say what she wanted without anyone questioning her right to freedom to speech. However, she should have specified that she was only referring to the Valley of the Jhelum and not the whole of Kashmir. I have yet to hear a Kashmiri Muslim describe himself as an Indian — It is always “I am Kashmiri”. People often forget that Kashmir is not one, but three zones divided by race, religion, language and perception of the future. While the Valley is over 90 per cent Muslim and Kashmiri-speaking, Jammu is majority Hindu, speaking Hindustani, and Ladakh is majority Buddhists with a language of their own. Jammu and Ladakh consider themselves as an integral part of India and want no change. The problem is confined to the Valley where the people demand Special Status as was promised in 1947 when the state under Sheikh Abdullah acceded to secular India led by Pandit Nehru rather than to Islamic Pakistan led by Jinnah. That undertaking remains unfulfilled by India. CM Omar Abdullah is right in holding that Kashmir acceded to India in 1947 and not merge in it. Let him now spell out in detail what he wants to fulfil the promise Nehru made to his grandfather. I for one have complete faith in Omar’s ability and integrity.

I believe that Kashmiris have no option but to stay with India. The Jhelum Valley is too small and land-locked to be independent. It is dependent on India for its livelihood. Most of the tourists who holiday there are Indians. It sells its fruit, saffron to India. So also is handicrafts like shawls, papier mache products. Thousands of Kashmiris live in India and have emporiums to market their produce. Kashmiris have to ensure that no Hindus or Sikhs are compelled to leave the Valley as the Pandits have been. We cannot afford to have another exchange of populations as we had in 1947. That would be disastrous.

Interlocutors! Who are they and what are they meant to do? The dictionary says they are persons who take part in a dialogue. The trio are certainly an able lot and will give us a readable report: But to what purpose? To me they appear as ploy created by our home minister to create an impression that he is trying to resolve the Kashmir problem. It is an eye-wash.

Sedition

Freedom comes with restraint
So we angrily paint
Free-speech without our permission
As heinous sedition
In Srinagar, the separatists say
Whatever they may
But in Delhi, if they utter a word
Which has been so often heard
And never been found absurd,
It is fit case for sedition
Because it can break the nation
It is indeed a tribute to our democracy
That it finds it so risky
To tolerate dissent,
Motivated or well-meant,
Because like a cream cake
Which can so easily break
The unity of the country is at stake.

(Contributed by Kuldip Salil, New Delhi)

Falsetto

Santa was very proud of his voice and loved singing. On Diwali night he invited his friends for drinking and hear him sing. When everyone was lit up, he stood up to sing the latest hit from Bollywood. As he struck a high note, his upper denture fell out. He put it back in his mouth. When he struck a low note, his lower denture fell out. He put it back. While he was thinking how to strike the right note, one of his friends shouted: “O Santia, will you sing something or just keep changing cassettes?”

(Contributed by Harjeet Charanjit Singh, New Delhi)