Earthrise : 9 min videos on the SOLUTIONS for a sustainable planet

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/earthrise/

https://www.youtube.com/show/earthrise

earthrise explores solutions to today's environmental challenges, taking an upbeat look at ecological, scientific, technological and design projects the world over. Our reporters meet inspiring individuals and communities leading the way in a field few can afford to ignore.

We need to dub many of these into Indian languages and spread them around!

In response to the news of the horrific attacks on innocent civilians in Assam

In response to the news of the horrific attacks on innocent civilians in Assam:

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/assam-violence-to-be-probed-by-national-investigation-agency-640619

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/ib-police-took-two-hours-to-decode-key-call-because-it-was-in-bodo-language/

We must condemn the senseless killings. But I urge my fellow human beings to think a little and not recommend more senseless killings in a fit of rage! These guys aren't exactly roaming around with "NDFB(S)" tattooed on their foreheads. They're going to be mingled in with civilians. What do you expect is going to happen with "shoot at sight" orders? A bush will shake and two machine guns will be emptied into it. And then we'll find the bullet-riddled bodies of  a mother and her 2 little children who were on their way somewhere and were avoiding running into armed men. And then NDFB(S) will use that incident to recruit even more fighters and become even more powerful.

This is what happens.. everywhere around the world, when orders like "shoot at sight", "hunt them down", "show no mercy" etc etc are given! This attack was a PROVOCATION, get it? If you get provoked into doing something stupid, then you have LOST and your enemy has won.

This is precisely the attitude and mentality that has CAUSED this dastardly attack to begin with. Of course some of the militia who attacked have seen their own loved ones getting butchered. That's what drove them to commit this insanity, don't you see? Please do this ruthlessness tactic of "shoot at sight", "hunt them down" etc only and only if you sincerely want the spiral of violence death to spread across Assam and her neighbouring states.

If not, then the immediate next step to be taken is to declare across all mediums that those among the NDFB(S)'s ranks who know that what has happened was wrong, are free to lay down their weapons and surrender to the authorities.. they WILL NOT BE KILLED if they do so and will be given full protection. We have the moral high ground : Do not lose it! Right now, 95% of the foot-soldiers of NDFB(S) know that what their leaders made them do was a heinous crime; on seeing a window to escape, they will gladly defect and hollow-out the organisation from the inside. They will also help the authorities in catching the masterminds and the funding entities behind this attack and this will bring REAL justice, not just more bloodshed, to the kin of the dead.

Dimaag laadao, Desh bachao !

Audio chapter : Exposing the myth of barter

http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/archive/audiobooks/Debt,%20The%20First%205000%20Years/5000-debt-02-The-Myth-of-Barter.mp3

Exposing the myth of Barter : No example of a barter economy has ever been found in the actual day-to-day lives of the native people's economies or histories around the world as they were contacted by the "civilized" world's explorers one by one. Entirely different systems had evolved. Adam Smith and others who wrote the first books on economics, had written about barter being the "primary" system of exchange of early societies, entirely out of their (severely!) limited imagination. They never bothered cross-checking or referencing any real on-the-ground data, even though indigenous societies were being contacted at the time. The only instances of barter were between different tribes/communities who did not trust each other.

A chapter from Debt, The First 5000 Years by David Graeber, read by Robin Upton. http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/Category:Audiobooks

So all our textbooks that say "first, there was barter system, then came money".. aren't really sourcing their information from actual fact.

Everyone who talks about "reverting to barter system" isn't really speaking accurately. Barter systems came about only in modern times at places where the supply of money ran out and where the people were already accustomed to using money. Credit systems, keeping records to pay off later, has been much more prevalent than barter.

Let's start pointing this out to people, shall we? Please forward this link to economists, MBAs etc that you know.. ask them to show any historical evidence that points to the contrary of what is being said here.

India's first lady...

http://www.abplive.in/india/2014/12/27/article463387.ece/PMs-wife-denied-information-under-RTI

In her RTI application filed before Mehsana Police on November 24, she had sought several documents related to the security cover given to her as per the protocol, including the certified copy of actual order passed by government about providing security.

She also wanted to know the laws and related provisions in Indian Constitution about security cover given to a PM's wife.

62-year-old Jashodaben had asked the government to explain the definition of protocol and sought details about what is included under it and what other benefits she is entitled for as per that protocol.

She also expressed unhappiness about the current security set-up, where her guards travel in government vehicles like car, while she, despite being a PM's wife, has to travel in public transport.

She also said that as former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her own security guards, she feel scared of her guards. She asked the government to make it compulsory for each guard to produce the copy of deployment order.

Jashodaben, a retired school teacher, lives with her brother Ashok Modi at Unjha town of Mehsana district. After Narendra Modi was sworn-in as Prime Minister on May 26, she has been given security by Mehsana police.

#AamAadmiDay : please choose the nicest human being in your area as your representative

Please learn from 5000+ years of recorded human history and resist the temptation of believing supreme leaders who tell you they will solve all your problems.

Only you can solve your problems... the leader you choose should have a clear roadmap, with binding deliverables (and not an indefinte waiting period) of executive measures that will increase your control over your life, that will facilitate you to solve your problems.

If you have to choose a leader at all, please give your backing to the nicest human being you can find.

Do not let proxy-candidature over-ride that priority. Choose the nicest human being in your area as your representative.. that's the right way.

All the best.

Is my mind telepathically triggering a program on my laptop?

[Warning : You are reading a testimony, not an attempt to prove anything. No point invading in.. just abandon it and move on in case of disagreement.]

It happened again. And I'm going to make a note of it now.

The two main browsers on my laptop are Firefox, and Chrome. I do not use Internet Explorer (IE), I've even removed its shortcuts from the main places.

The default web browser here is set as Chrome. So, if I open a link inside any offline program like, say, the pdf reader; or if a program opens up a website, then the chrome browser is what opens. Not IE.

But since quite some months now, IE just starts up out of nowhere and appears on my screen in a full window.

I checked out the background applications. Nothing seems to be trying to open a webpage. And if it did, it would be in Chrome.

There is no keyboard key or any shortcut or any mouse stroke that opens up IE. In all the instances till now, whether my hand was on the keyboard or not, there certainly wasn't any key combination pressed. Actually, most of the times my fingers were hovering well above the keyboard and mouse-touch-pad. Basically, no physical input of any kind from my end that can explain this "phantom appearance" of IE on my screen.

This phantom appearance of the IE browser isn't really random. It never opens up when I'm regularly working on the laptop; neither does it open up when I have left the laptop running and gone off.

There is a specific condition under which the phantom appearance happens, which is why I'm sharing this.

It happens at usually bed times when I'm drowsy and trying to do something on the laptop.

My eyes close or tune out of the screen for some time. In my mind I feel sleep take over.

The moment passes; I come back awake, and look at the screen. And what do I see?


​

I hadn't made this connection earlier, between my drowsings and the phantom appearances of IE. But one night, a few weeks ago, when I was really wanting to complete something and had stayed up late, I was momentarily drowsing off quite some times, and this phantom appearance happened every time. Each time I closed the window and made sure it's not operating in the background.The last couple of times, I had it in my mind, to check, after drowsing off and coming back, does it come back up?

And sure enough, there it was again! Theory confirmed!

This reduced my sleepiness considerably, and on further attempts of drowsing off momentarily, it didn't work again that night.

Some days later, on another stint, the phantom appearance happened again. And again some days later. And has happened on many nights.

Last night, it happened again. And I kept the browse open and the laptop on overnight, just to see it again in the morning when I wake up and am "sober" :P

And yes.. confirmed.. I hadn't been dreaming up of anything.. the browser was still there. I took a screenshot which you can see above.

(the IE homepage is set to some LAN server where this laptop was previously being used.. I haven't bothered changing it as hey, this doesn't weigh down the system)

Analysis

So what could this mean?

It's following the same routine : I have to be *genuinely* drowsy, ALL my senses have to momentarily switch off.. my neck relaxes and my head drops down a bit, and then my mind must come back awake immediately. You've experienced it, right? If not at bedtime then maybe in a classroom lecture.. the words are droning on and on, you drop off for a moment and then you wake back up with a fright, hoping no one saw you drooping off, and then realizing that while people didn't notice that part, people did notice you waking up with a start!

Thankfully those classroom-drowsing-off days are past. But I digress.. let's get back to the matter.

So, after all my mind's running thoughts have stopped and a different type of subconsious feeling has spread like a cloud from the back-and-center of my head (that's where I feel it coming from.. mind you I'm not looking up any psychology or brain-structure material while writing this... honest!) to all of my mind, I'm not sure if my eyelids close or not, but I lose functionality of my eyes and ears..

... and just a moment later something activates, maybe to remind my mind that there is still something more to do. The subconscious cloud retreats, I regain function of my eyes and other senses, notice that I'm facing down or tilted or so. I return my gaze to the laptop screen, and there is IE sitting nice and pretty.

The all-running-thoughts in the mind coming to a halt is crucial. If there's even one thing still running.. any awareness at all, then the phantom appearance doesn't happen. That's why when proactively testing for this, I had the thought that "now the phantom appearance will happen again" running through my mind and so the condition wasn't fulfilled; the drowsing off wasn't genuine, and so the appearance hadn't happened.

This is one of the things that is SO true for the person experiencing it, but he / she will not be able to demonstrate it to others.

But in that same inability, lies a freedom : I am not obligated to demonstrate this.. I'm not stuck at any need for third person verification. This phenomenon is mine. I can freely talk about it.. and what happens after that, doesn't really matter.

Anyways, back to analyzing the phenomena:
I do feel a distinct feeling in my mind when this happens. And it's much, much closer to the sensation of falling asleep than to how I feel any time I'm awake.

Here are my theories
(warning : not for the overly skeptical. Move along, Sir. This is simply the conclusion remaining after evaluating and eliminating other possibilities)

There is a telepathic/kinetic phenomena happening here. In the specific transition of my mind from conscious to subconscious (and/or possibly back from subconscious to conscious), an ability to connect with the laptop, which, admittedly, is an extension of myself in many ways right now, is being triggered. The language is unclear and the only command going through is one to open IE (of all things!).

It's like how for a baby there is one first sound that it is able to make (when it's not crying that is).

Or, it could be my own mind/being doing this to remind me that I ought to cut back and go to sleep.

Right now I have no idea how one could go about refining this, or even if I want to. (Well, I'd at least want to change the program being triggered!) I also have no idea if this same effect might occur when I'm working on another laptop/computer, or on another operating system on this same laptop. At present, this is what it is.

Russian magnet-motor bike... working, drivable models

Russian magnet-motor bike... working, drivable models

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1rilJFviVM

Russian electronic ultra efficient magnet motor; a solution to the
energy-wasting internal combustion engine. 10 times as efficient as a
fossil fuel engine and considerably more eff. than any other electr.
motor. According to the designer returns energy back to the battery,
even uphill; if pedalled 1 km, returns energy for another km.(For
those who don't believe in free energy: where does the supplementary
power come from?). Works on alternating current triggered from a
battery. Tested on bicycles at speeds up to 140 kmh=90 mph.
European Patent Application:
https://data.epo.org/publication-server/getpdf.jsp?cc=EP&pn=1616741&ki=A1

Why do women avoid Science and Engineering fields?

My comment:

Please don't assume that the Science and Engineering fields are perfect as they currently are. The fields need to get a lot more human, a lot more integrated than the present hyper-divided, hyper-fragmented and hyper-hierarchical state. There is a serious issue of arrogance and "I know everything" in these fields; which also leads to prevention of real innovation, callous attitude towards serious human and environmental risks of under-researched "solutions" that end up creating more problems. A systemic correction is way overdue. One factor in women staying away might very well be that they are better at avoiding becoming inhuman technocrats than the men.

Article:

https://in.news.yahoo.com/the-indian-girl-s-guide-to-science--technology--engineering-and-math-073201533.html

Flat-owners in Pune standing up to builders' extortion tactics

Flat-owners in Pune standing up to builder mafia's extortion tactics:

http://helppalladiumgrand.blogspot.in/2014/12/press-release-invitation-to-press.html

http://ravikarandeekarsblog.blogspot.in/2014/12/Complaints-Against-Builders-Raojee-Constructions-Shreyas-Shelters-Palladium-Grand-Dhanori-Pune-India.html

The New Peal Harbor (a 3-part documentary)

Sharer's note:

Why I'm sharing this : Because I've begun to realize the consequences of not telling a truth out loud and clear just because it was so inconvenient. There is no way someone who has been exposed to these realities, would have fallen for the mainstream narratives that we're otherwise trying so fruitlessly to explain and expose to our fellow people. It's time for us to embrace ALL the truths of our times and stop being so cowardishly selective about them.

There's no way you're going to be able to explain exactly why GMO's are being encouraged;
why our major political parties are all actually on the same team;
why the most technologically proficient people on the planet are extremely reluctant to trust Electronic Voting Machines,
why the wars of the world are going on and who's pulling the strings;
how terrorism and the invasive State are two sides of the same coin;
why the ISIS came about exactly when the US war machine needed it the most;
why a drone assassination program being carried out on the most technologically backward regions on the planet;
why Islam is the scapegoat of the current times;
why everything we say or do in the digital or telephone world is being recorded and archived (including your act of reading this email) by people we wouldn't trust our children with;
why whistleblowers are being hunted down by the government claiming to represent democracy and freedom;
why the 2008 financial crisis was engineered and how so many capitalists ended up massively benefiting from it;
why the Occupy Movement has happened and what makes it significant;
why every country that tries to become independent of the Dollar gets targeted for destabilization and magically the mainstream finds their rulers being oh-so-evil;
why our lands and water are being handed over to profiteers and our forests are getting wiped out;
why our indigenous are getting gradually portrayed as our enemies or just inconvenient blockades to "growth";
why the most sustainably living populations on the planet are being expelled from their homelands;
why any real good political alternative that tried to bring honest governance and people's self-rule gets so ruthlessly attacked by our media, and any fascist power gets promoted as a hero;

why our mainstream media's primary function right now is to make us love the oppressors and hate the oppressed;

..and so much more.. there's no way you can convincingly explain these to the people if you leave out THIS critical little detail that has diverted the course of humanity into needlessly darker times since 2001. It's time to stop ignoring this one thing that you ignore when it's told by almost every person you know whom you credit to be knowledgeable about what's happening in the world. There IS a Global Truth Movement afoot, and we had better not find ourselves on the wrong side of it just because we were too squeamish.

-----------

​http://www.luogocomune.net/site/modules/sections/index.php?op=viewarticle&artid=167

"September 11 - The New Pearl Harbor" is a 5 hour documentary that summarizes 12 years of public debate on 9/11. While aimed primarily at a general, uninformed audience, the film also contains some new findings that may be of interest to advanced researchers.

This film is intended as an educational, non-profit operation, and must remain so in order to fulfill all the requirements for the usage of copyrighted material. As such, the entire film is made available online for free from day one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1GCeuSr3Mk - Part 1/3 (1 hr 55 mins)

INTRODUCTION

0.01:02 - 12 parallels between Pearl
Harbor and September 11
0.14:10 - The debate: main issues

PART 1 - AIR DEFENSE

0.14:55 - Where are the interceptors?
0.16:12 - The "incompetence theory"
(radars, transponders)
0.22:00 - The military drills
0.29:40 - Specific warnings
0.33:08 - The chain of command
0.38:10 - Promotions, not punishments
0.39:50 - The Mineta case
0.47:38 - Debunkers: "Mineta was mistaken"
0.53:18 - The Mineta case - A summary

PART 2 - THE HIJACKERS

0.57:15 - "Piss-poor student pilots"
0.59:38 - Marwan al-Sheikki (UA175)
1.01:52 - Ziad Jarrah (UA93)
1.03:06 - Hani Hanjour (AA77)
1.04:00 - The debunkers' positions
1.06:00 -  2 simulations of the Pentagon attack
1.13:10 - Someone knew?
1.16:40 - Airport security cameras
1.20.15 - The missing black boxes

PART 3 - THE AIRPLANES

1.26:50 - Passenger planes or military drones?
1.28:20 - Impossible speeds
1.37:30 - What happened to the passengers?
1.38:35 - The cellphone calls
1.48:30 - The debunkers' position
1.50:38 - If not from the planes, from where?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7mDXHn_byA - Part 2/3 (1 hr 30 mins)

PART 4 - THE PENTAGON

0.02:35 - Downed light poles
0.03:30 - The missing plane
0.04:30 - The official version
0.05:24 - Problems with the official version
               (wing, ailerons, tail, engines)
0.13:09 - The mystery hole
0.14:10 - The debunkers' explanations
0.16:20 - Conclusions on damage analysis
0.17:00 - The missing tapes
0.18:30 - Security video analysis
0.23.40 - Pentagon summary

PART 5 - FLIGHT 93

0.24.15 - The empty hole
0.28.00 - The debunkers' explanations
0.33:00 - Plane crash or bomb explosion?
0.34:50 - The debris field

0.37.20 - The shootdown hypothesis
0.38:50 - The small white plane
0.41:40 - "Let's roll"
0.44:25 - Summary of Flight 93

PART 6 - THE TWIN TOWERS

0.45:10 - Introduction
0.47:45 - The Towers' small dirty secret
0.53:10 - Larry Silverstein
0.56:15 - NIST vs. Architects & Engineers
0.58:00 - Robust or fragile buildings?
1.04:45 - The initial collapse - Explanation #1
1.05:45 - The initial collapse - Explanation #2
1.07:35 - Problems with the official explanation
1.18:00 - The full collapse - No official explanation
1.18:50 - Law of physics violated
1.20:50 - The Twin Towers and freefall
1.27:50 - Debunkers' response to A&E


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DegLpgJmFL8 - Part 3/3 (1 hr 28 mins)

(Twin Towers continued)

0.00:20 - The hypothesis of controlled demolitions
0.01:08 - Debunkers: "Impossible to place explosives"
0.07:34 - Explosions in the Twin Towers (witnesses)
0.15:00 - "Fuel in elevators shafts" theory
0.23:25 - Debunkers: "Explosions not recorded by tv cameras"
0.30:26 - Squibs
0.33:00 - Explosive force (montage)
0.35:00 - Ejecta
0.38:00 - Diagonal cuts
0.40:15 - What happened to the hat trusses?
0.42:20 - Extreme temperatures
0.45:30 - Debunkers' explanations
0.46:45 - Twisted and mangled beams
0.47:40 - Molten steel
0.51:05 - Molten concrete

0.53:50 - Pulverization
0.57:40 - Victims vaporized
1.02:20 - Conclusion on the Twin Towers

PART 7 - BUILDING 7

1.05:10 - Introduction
1.06:35 - Official version by NIST
1.09:36 - Collapse computer simulation
1.11:00 - Fire computer simulation
1.12:20 - Debunkers: "Building 7 weaker"
1.14:25 - Preknowledge
1.19:00 - Symmetry
1.20:00 - Freefall

EPILOGUE

1.22:30 - John McCain
1.24:35 - The last word

------------

John Taylor Gatto medical fund

Sharing this as his book "Dumbing Us Down" literally fell into my lap in early 2012, knocked my well-educated socks off and ushered me into the world of alternatives. When I had finished reading the last page, I just *knew* that the course of my life had just shifted into completely new territory, that nothing would ever be the same again. Following that I got to know Jinan, Urmila, Swaraj University, Shikshantar, Learning Societies UnConference and everything that has followed.

http://www.thejohntaylorgattomedicalfund.com/

Quoting from the website:

On July 29, 2011 John had a stroke which left him hospitalized for months and mostly paralyzed on his left side and bedridden ever since.  His brain is working well, he believes he has much more to accomplish and contribute, and he is slowly gaining his strength.  Over the last several months we have raised enough money to help John and Janet in big and demonstrative ways... let's keep it up and get him back on his feet and ready to share his next round of intelligent discourse with us! We love you John!

John's current condition: 

on September 26, 2014, John sent this to me:

Life is too lovable not to love, God's artistry in making a planet and its creatures never fails to astonish me. My physical strength does seem a little better, day by day, but my brain is still too sludge-filled and dizzy to allow the best concentration on brain work; in the past I did my best work, literally, while I was laughing, or at the very least grinning broadly at the human comedy, but, alas, that merriment has fled at the constant bone/joint pain left at the legacy of the strokes, which no allowable pain-killer seems to touch. 


Yet in faith I remain quietly optimistic, as I was taught as a little boy to be, and if ever I fully recover, as a result of this experience, I shall fully appreciate what a superb blessing the simple gift of walking really is, along with the wealth that comes with the simple state of being, given equally to us all, whatever our social or economic status.


Prior to the strokes, like most people, I always wanted MORE, unable to clearly appreciate I already had everything I needed for happiness, but it took that sudden shock of frailty to fully bring the lesson home.

Hope all is well with you in the warm parts of the earth as we here, await the ice and snow. Be well my friend, and above all ,healthy; do stay away from sugar, Satan's deceptive sweetness. 


With love and hugs, John 

p.s.  With luck, a reprint edition of Underground History will be out by Xmas, and my children's book, Snider,the C.I.A. Spider.

Jason Lewis: 13 year journey around the world on human power alone

Forwarding excerpts from an email for an event that I missed.. the story is inspiring.

[..] will be  hosting Jason Lewis on Monday 15th December 2014 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at the Hall of Harmony, Nehru Centre Worli, Mumbai. Here goes his short profile

Jason Lewis survived one of the longest, most grueling, yet uplifting journeys in history, circumnavigating the globe on human power alone - no motors or sails. Traveling more than 46,000 miles on pedal boats, roller blades, kayaks, bikes, and his own two feet; the adventurer set off from London at the age of 26 and returned from his odyssey 13 years later. He traveled across five continents, two oceans and one sea.

He survived a crocodile attack off the Australian coast and blood poisoning in the Pacific Ocean. He was hit by a car and left for dead with two broken legs in Colorado, and incarcerated for espionage on the Sudan-Egypt border. The Dalai Lama has called it "a journey of great courage and determination."

Jason will be sharing his epic journey of extreme endurance and the triumph of human spirit.

Long profile on Wikipedia:-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Lewis_(adventurer)

[..]

Most effective strategy or policy to improve India's education system?

A paragraph-entry question asked in a hopelessly close-ended education-related survey, and my response

In your view, what is the most effective strategy or policy to improve India's education system?

Learning needs to get non-linear. We need to stop standardizing education, and to stop grading, percentaging the youth; to recognize that there is no such thing as a failure and that everyone has something valuable to contribute to society. A basic test for competency along the lines of drivers license can suffice where over a basic minimum criteria there is no need to track who scored what; there is no need for turning that into a competition or race (if we don't do that to drivers licenses then we don't need to be doing it anywhere else). Leave the job of selecting the best candidate for a job to the employers.. there is no need for governmental assistance in that by way of holding monopolies on issuing certificates of higher education. Right now most employers are learning the hard way that all that long chain of certifications is proving pointless; they have to exercise their own judgements in finding talent anyway; they can only learn someone's true value by trying them out first. So a try-first entry mechanism is needed. Instead of spending so much resources on making the entire human population of the country jump though old, obsolete hoops which are designed to make things pyramidal and allow only a tiny minority to ever prosper, let's build systems that give everyone the opportunity to find what their unique gifts are and how they can contribute best.

What would your response be?

Farewell to a Fighter – Chuni Bhai Vaidya

In fond memory..

"Gaam ni jameen gaam ni, Sarkaar ni naii ! " - This is the slogan I
heard him coin when my group had met him in 2012.
(Gaam = village)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: napm india
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 17:12:01 +0530
Subject: Farewell to a Fighter – Chuni Bhai Vaidya

*Farewell to a Fighter – Chuni Bhai Vaidya*

Veteran Gandhian, perhaps the oldest living one, a man who devoted his
life to Gandhi, Vinoba and JP's movements passed away during the night of
18th or early 19th December morning.

As a young man he participated in the Bhoodan movement initiated by
Vinobaji in the 1950s and '60s and devoted his life to public causes.

He was among the most courageous of Sarvodaya 'karyakartas', never shying
away from standing up for a cause. Not only did he have the moral strength
and energy to pursue his beliefs even if he was in a minority, he'd be
willing to be a one-man army if the situation demanded so. It did not
matter if he had to pick up a fight with the whole State machinery.

The stance Chunikaka and *Bhumiputra* (Gujarati Magazine of the Gandhians)
took during Emergency in mid 1970s, the campaign against corruption in the
'80s, the leadership he provided in face of Umargam atrocity in '90s, the
role he played during Gujarat violence in 2002 or the energy he pumped into
the anti-Nirma struggle in Mahuva, anti-nuclear struggle in Mithi Virdi and
other struggles in Gujarat are shining lights in his glorious story.

A good fight was not Chunikaka's only forte. He worked with as much
commitment and vigour to search for alternatives and reconstruction. Coming
from the water-scarce North Gujarat the Right to Water was his primary
preoccupation through the 1980s and 1990s. He first toiled to mobilise the
farmers affected by Dantiwada and Sipu dams, and then for Narmada waters to
North Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch. In spite of his advancing age he
dedicated his best energies to building '*gupt bandh*', 'hidden dams' in
the Banas river in Radhanpur area.

As a person Chunikaka appreciated good humour. He could both give and chin
punches on the chin. You could differ violently with him and yet remain
friends and continue to work together.

That was Chunikaka – the Giant. We pay our respects to him and mourn his
passing away and with that also of an era.

*NAPM Team *

--
===============================================

*National Alliance of People's Movements*National Office : 6/6, Jangpura B,
Mathura Road, New Delhi 110014
Phone : 011 24374535 Mobile : 09818905316
Web : www.napm-india.org | napmindia [at] gmail.com
Facebook : www.facebook.com/NAPMindia
Twitter : @napmindia

The second component of the schooling world

I wanted to ask/share this with the homeschooling/unschooling community in particular, but it also applies to all parents living in urban settings.

The schooling world has two components:

One is the school itself. I think that part is fairly understood in our networks.
The second component is TV/ nonstop entertainment / crass consumerism / materialistic lifestyle.

While school is easy to identify and locate, It's difficult to even name the second component. While the first component is located someplace fixed, away from home, the second components invades into our daily lives constantly, especially so in the urban context.

My observation is that these two, seemingly opposite worlds work together as a team.

One numbs and bores the kids' minds and gives them a world of rigidity.
The other then steps in to give them a false escape from that forced false reality, to a fake world where even realistic responsibilities (like preserving one's well-being, or not hurting others) can be completely shelved.

One gives our kids an unnatural load of expectations, and then the other tempts them with an equally unnatural world where one exists purely to gratify one's immediate desires; where the distinction between wants and needs is neglected.

I believe that these two worlds work as a team to train us for the machinistic lifestyle where we slog a soul-destroying job and then make up for it in our free time with tv, addictions, trying restaurant after restaurant, mall after mall, weekend getaways, adventure treks.. one thing after the other to satiate that feeling of something being amiss in our life.

This dual trap is explained extensively in books like Deschooling Society, Weapons of mass instruction, Charles Eisenstein's books and i'm sure in the other works as well that i haven't read yet.

But i feel that the second component hasn't been dealt with satisfactorily, on a practical level. And there is a risk to freeing our children from only one component of this two-member team while leaving the other one unquestioned, omnipresent and unexamined.

In urban settings, there is an artificial cutting-off of several facets of life, and an artificial enhancement of the second component. We tend to forget that fact. I don't think it's such a wise idea, as I have observed in some cases, to let it have a free run and to let it interfere as it pleases in our children's lives, in the name of non-interference. To give kids a life that is truly free from excessive interference, I think it's necessary, even for unschoolers, to make at least a little bit of effort towards removing this second component's active, pervasive, relentless interference.

Maybe the email below might have something about it.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Subject: NEW GUIDE: Push back against childhood commercialism

Raising kids in today's noisy, fast-paced culture can be difficult. For good or ill, modern kids are exposed to a wider world. Our brand new Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture guide is now available, and ready to help parents and caregivers protect children from intrusive and harmful advertising. This guide is the keystone resource of our new Kids Unbranded project. Thanks to our recent poll on the American Dream, we know that the majority of Americans favor limits on advertising aimed at children and that this support is shared across the political spectrum. New Dream's Kids Unbranded project seeks to harness this support by raising the visibility of the issue and providing tools, resources, and advocacy opportunities to parents and educators. Tips for Parenting in a Commercial Culture helps explain how marketers target children, and provides useful tips and tools for helping to navigate the challenges of raising and educating kids in our hyper-materialistic culture. New Dream has long been a leader on this issue, and we are really proud of this new resource. I hope you'll take a moment to download the guide today. Best, Wendy Philleo Executive Director Center for a New American Dream   Center for a New American Dream PO Box 797 Charlottesville, VA 22902

Community space and activities at Thoughtworks, Yerawada, Pune

http://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/let-thousand-flowers-bloom

Salute to the real soldiers

Sharing this because I foresee these situations and questions getting more and more real in the Indian context in the coming times:

We've been brought up with tales of valour and honour of army life. But when the corruption of our ruling classes reaches to an extent that they use our nation's army for immoral purposes, for suppression and oppression rather than protection and liberation, then for those who do care, getting branded as a "traitor to your country" by the traitors hiding behind the curtains becomes the only way one can avoid becoming a real traitor to conscience, country and humanity.

Salute to the real soldiers, the real heroes of our time who stand by their oaths and their responsibilities, at great personal risk, even when they've been ordered to violate them.

And a question to those who equate following orders with being good and who choose to decry such acts,

And point the finger of blame at those who refused to part-take in mass murder and colonization,

While giving the corrupt elites passing the orders a free pass,

Or those who insist that the person being targeted so vehemently and under-handedly and disproportionately, in some way "asked for it", and "ought to" have followed the "proper procedures" and "worked within the system" despite overwhelming lived experience and evidence that the established procedures and systems make that impossible :

When will you live up to your own moral responsibility to draw the line between what is right and what is wrong? When will you stop passing the buck to the higher authorities whom you've artificially painted as incorruptible? Has history ever celebrated those who diligently followed orders and became accessories to mass murder / colonization? How do you think the generations to come will see your actions and opinions? Are you going to be part of the solution or part of the problem?

[Read email below]

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: IVAW <feedback@ivaw.org>
Date: Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 1:10 AM
Subject: War Resister Sara Beining Released

What's New Donate to Sara's legal fund Article on Sara's resistance Additional Resources Donate Today Contact IVAW The last few months have been painful for us but we have also had some moments to celebrate and we wanted to share one in particular with you: Last week, Sara Beining who is a Board member of IVAW, a war resister, a mother, and friend of ours was released from jail and the US Army with time served in pre-trial confinement and a "bad conduct" discharge. The Army's prosecutors were hell bent on throwing the book at her with a possible sentence of more than a decade largely due to her leadership in our organization. But thanks to the hard work of attorney James Branum and our allies at Courage to Resist Sara can finally put this tough period in her life behind her! Please help Sara out with her legal fees Sara decided to go AWOL in 2007 after she returned from her first deployment. In her intelligence occupation in the Army she was able to quickly see through the lies justifying the invasion and the destructive impacts of the occupation of Iraq. Having this knowledge she decided she couldn't in good faith return on another deployment. Like many resisters she had to look behind her shoulder for a long time and her AWOL status caught up with her during a routine traffic stop last year.  Supporting resisters is one of the surest ways to let military members know that they too have a choice and there is a community of support for those who say no to war.

Iraq Veterans Against the War is a 501(c)(3) charity, and welcomes your tax deductible contributions

P.O. Box 3565, New York, NY 10008. All Right Reserved. |

Where has [insert name here] disappeared off to?

Just because the mainstream media of your country,
Including all major newspapers and TV news channels
Are actively engaged In complete information blackout,
Or censorship or negative selective reporting about [insert name here],

That was so much present in the news coverage till just some time back,

Doesn't mean it does not exist,

Doesn't mean it has stopped being relevant,

Doesn't mean they have stopped fighting for your children's future.

In fact, it means exactly the opposite.

And it means someone at the reigns of the news organizations,

is SHIT SCARED of what is happening.

Please seek out the information yourself. Search for it online. Check out that entity's official website. Ask people who you know to be knowing more.
Join the information underground, and spread what the mainstream doesn't want people to know.

And if you know what's good for you, stop blindly believing what centrally-controlled, remotely-operated, elite-owned, profiteering organizations are giving you as news. Take the basic facts, but for opinions and analysis, switch off the speculative bullshit, and do your own thinking.

Poem by Dushyant Kumar

Sharing an email, forwarded by friends to mark the completion of AAP's two years of honest politics:

आज यह दिवार , परदो की तरह हिलने लगी ,

शर्त लेकिन थी कि ये बुनियाद हिलनी चाहिये । 

हर सडक पर ,हर गली मे , हर नगर ,हर गांव मे 

हाथ लहराते हुए, हर लाश चलनी चाहिये । 

सिर्फ हंगामा खडा करना मेरा मकसद नही ,

सारी कोशिश है कि ये सुरत बदलनी चाहिये । 

मेरे सीने मे नही तो तेरे सीने में सही ,

हो कही भी आग ,लेकिन आग जलनी चाहिये । 

-दुष्यंत कुमार 

Epigenetics as a way to neutralize GM foods?

I just learned a little bit about EPIGENETICS,

which involves not the genes but the environment around them that influences their expression.

Here's a definition from an article:

Epigenetics literally means "above" or "on top of" genetics. It refers to external modifications to DNA that turn genes "on" or "off." These modifications do not change the DNA sequence, but instead, they affect how cells "read" genes.

(source: http://www.livescience.com/37703-epigenetics.html)

In a documentary I'm just watching on alternative Cancer therapies, it's mentioned that epigenetics can be used to suppress expression of some genes.

So just having this wild thought:

What if this science can be taken to the fight against GM foods?

What if epigenetics can be harnessed to suppress the expression of the rogue genes in GM crops, like BT gene in BT-cotton, BT-brinjal, etc?

What if by doing so we can "neutralize" the damage done to crops, seeds that have been infected with the GM strains?

My understanding of this is quite raw right now, of course. But just had this idea so I thought I'll write in "into the ether" ;) 

Article: Amusing ourselves to death

Shared by my friend and guide Jinan:

I found the following statement from neil postman in the book-" Amusing ourselves to death"

As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions." In 1984, Orwell added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short,Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us.

"What Huxley teaches is that in the age of advanced technology, spiritual devastation is more likely to come from an enemy with a smiling face than from one whose countenance exudes suspicion and hate. In the Huxleyan prophecy, Big Brother does not watch us, by his choice. We watch him, by ours. There is no need for wardens or gates or Ministries of Truth. When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk; a culture-death is a clear possibility." 

But in Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy.

The 4-hour workday

http://www.4hourworkday.org/essay/

Block Development... Officer!

Such a nice term... Block Development Officer... if only they'd do what their title really tells them to do...

Interesting links for November 2014

http://vimeo.com/24027205

The story of Alandya Dongar, by Sumant Joshi

Alandya is the name of the mountain (dongar in Marathi) which has been literally shaved of it's forests mainly because of the flawed forest policies of the Indian government.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yWnMMMiZ6I

Made by Shubhada / Vasudha Nirmitee

 (Hindi) GM Crop Trials or Genetic Gamble? Rahuri 29 october 2014 

 

 http://www.onecommunityglobal.org/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQJ1XdA60dQ 

Non Vaccinating Pediatrician Shares Her Experience

"In my practice, and that's all I can speak for, children with Crohn's and ulcerative colitis and asthma and Asperger's and autism and pandas, have all been vaccinated. And my unvaccinated population, which is several hundred, if not maybe a few thousand, I don't have one autistic kid in that group."

http://youtu.be/6yWnMMMiZ6I

Anti-GM protest and visit at Rahuri, MH where field trials are going on in an agri university without proper oversight. This video by Vasudha Nirmitee group covers the whole event, incl explaining the issue in detail, in Hindi language (which I'm seeing for the first time)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu_qGFny4_Q

The Wayseer Manifesto

https://www.popularresistance.org/we-are-students-not-customers-global-week-of-action/

https://www.popularresistance.org/10-ideas-for-change-co-operative-local-economies/

https://www.popularresistance.org/beyond-extreme-energy-action-to-retire-fossil-fuels/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UOED7xxyb0A

P Sainath: 100 Days of Narendra Modi Government and Sycophant Media 

http://revolution-news.com/irish-water-blog-1st-nov/

Ireland's Streets Turn to Rivers of People, 1 Million, Wiping Out New Tax on Water #IrishWater

http://revolution-news.com/100k-protest-austerity-brussels-police-repression-sparks-riot/

100k Protest Austerity in Brussels (Belgium), Police Repression Sparks Riot

http://www.thebetterindia.com/14672/man-creates-artificial-glaciers-chewang-norphel-ladakh/

The Man Who Creates Artificial Glaciers To Meet The Water Needs Of Ladakh

"This low cost model used only locally sourced material and help from the local community. Norphel has successfully built 10 glaciers so far. The smallest one is 500 feet long in Umla and the largest is 2 km long in Phutse.

His efforts have increased the agricultural production, thereby increasing the income of the locals. This has also reduced the migration to cities. His simple technique has brought water closer to the villages, and most importantly, made it available when the villagers need it the most."

http://www.onebillionrising.org/rise-raise/

Among other things, blowing the lid off rampant sexual harassment in the restaurant business in US and other countries.

"Raise" has also meant to rise against social discrimination and stigma given to workers, and the de-valuing of their integral contributions to society.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/prabhu_chawla/columns/Modi-Faces-Bigger-Threat-from-Wily-Civil-Servants-Than-Political-Opponents/2014/08/10/article2371765.ece

The best parts of this article have nothing to do with the new PM or related.. rather it's a long-term historical narrative of what makes India's oppressive and entrenched bureacracy what it is.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/chernobyl-and-fukushima-radiation-reduces-animal-and-plant-numbers-diversity-lifespan-fertility-brain-size-increases-deformities-and-abnormalities/5373292

"In 2006, I decided to collect fruit flies across the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and I couldn't find very many.

And then I realized, there wasn't any rotting fruit on the ground.  And considering that every farmer, every landowner would put up fruit trees in that part of the world, you look at the fruit trees and realize there's hardly any fruit on them.

And of course, that's why there weren't many fruit flies.

And then it dawned on us, where are the pollinators? And that point, we realized there aren't many bees and butterflies.

So we started counting the bees, the butterflies, the dragonflies, the spiders, and the grasshoppers.

And that's when we realized that all of the groups we looked at showed significantly lower numbers in the most-contaminated areas."

http://www.globalresearch.ca/student-science-experiment-finds-plants-wont-grow-near-wi-fi-router/5336877

"The students placed six trays filled with Lepidium sativum, a type of garden cress into a room without radiation, and six trays of the seeds into another room next to two routers that according to the girls calculations, emitted about the same type of radiation as an ordinary cellphone.

Over the next 12 days, the girls observed, measured, weighed and photographed their results. Although by the end of the experiment the results were blatantly obvious - the cress seeds placed near the router had not grown. Many of them were completely dead. While the cress seeds planted in the other room, away from the routers, thrived."

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dangers-of-microwave-radiation-cannot-be-ignored/24342

simple experiment on plants : one given stove-boiled and cooled water, the other given microwaved and cooled water.

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20141114/1014725978.html

Putin: Russian Economy Won't Be Dominated by 'Dollar Dictatorship'

http://www.globalresearch.ca/911-truth-in-2014-is-a-breakthrough-possible/5374524

We really need to start taking the truth movement in its full, need to stop avoiding some things because they're inconvenient.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/visiting-north-korea_b_4256519.html

A good reference point for Indians.. beware of the cult of making one fallible human being your hero and saviour.

http://www.thedailysheeple.com/cnbc-execs-children-murdered-1-day-after-cnbc-reports-43-trillion-bankster-lawsuit_102012

I'd come across this news as soon as it had happened... repeating it here as an eye-opener to people who think high-level corruption, a criminal ruling elite and extreme suppression of truth aren't the reality of the USA.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article185860.html

"The State Department acknowledged that the crew of the destroyer USS Donald Cook has been gravely demoralized ever since their vessel was flown over in the Black Sea by a Russian Sukhoi-24 (Su-24) fighter jet which carried neither bombs nor missiles but only an electronic warfare device.

..

As the Russian jet approached the US vessel, the electronic device disabled all radars, control circuits, systems, information transmission, etc. on board the US destroyer. In other words, the all-powerful Aegis system, now hooked up - or about to be - with the defense systems installed on NATO's most modern ships was shut down, as turning off the TV set with the remote control.

The Russian Su-24 then simulated a missile attack against the USS Donald Cook, which was left literally deaf and blind. As if carrying out a training exercise, the Russian aircraft - unarmed - repeated the same maneuver 12 times before flying away."

http://investmentwatchblog.com/turkish-hackers-crack-electric-utility-delete-670-billion-of-pending-bills-freeing-millions-of-turks-from-debt/

Turkish Hackers Crack Electric Utility; Delete $670 Billion Of Pending Bills, Freeing Millions of Turks From Debt

http://www.coinweek.com/people-in-the-news/bernard-von-nothaus-architect-liberty-dollar-sentenced/

"…if anything is clear from the evidence presented at trial, it is that the last thing Mr. von NotHaus wanted was for Liberty Dollars [to] be confused with coins issued by the United States government…His intention - to protest the Federal Reserve system - has always been plain."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2834359/Stunning-images-showcase-beauty-Iranian-mosques.html

Amazing architecture, a kaleidoscope of colours and breathtaking symmetry: Stunning images show the beauty of Iranian mosques

http://whatreallyhappened.com/

Big collection of news... real news!

http://www.hangthebankers.com/new-facebook-messenger-app-has-nsa-backdoor-built-in/

All the shocking invasions into privacy that Facebook Messenger app does

http://www.hangthebankers.com/scientists-planning-to-build-nikola-teslas-free-energy-tower/

http://www.hangthebankers.com/the-whistleblower-who-cost-jpmorgan-9-billion-speaks-out/

The whistleblower who cost JPMorgan $9 billion speaks out

http://www.hangthebankers.com/russia-urges-un-climate-report-to-include-geoengineering-aka-chemtrails/

http://www.hangthebankers.com/the-globalists-are-losing-control/

http://www.naturalblaze.com/2014/11/germany-and-bulgaria-confirm-strong.html

Germany and Bulgaria Confirm Strong Opposition to GM Crops

excerpt:

"Germany's Farm Minister Christian Schmidt and Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov both confirmed their countries' strong opposition to GM crops on Friday.

"Bulgaria's position on that matter remains unchanged – Bulgaria does not support allowing GM crops to be sold on the market and produced on the territory of the EU," said new Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov"...

http://www.activistpost.com/2014/11/scientific-basis-for-gmo-crops-is-false.html

"One gene produces one protein." "Each gene has a specific function."

This is the basis for the modern biotech industry, and it applies most definitely to GMO crops.

And it is false.

So for example, when Monsanto says the genes they insert in plants only serve to protect the plants from the herbicide Roundup and have no other function, they're making it up. 

https://okfn.org/opendata/why-open-data/citizenship-and-governance/

Information about budgets, procurement and expenditure enable citizens to find out where their taxes are spent, and to ensure that elections are free and fair. Election information, legislation, and key societal infrastructure data such as maps and postcodes should be open to all.

https://openspending.org/

http://ckan.org/

Budget visualization, open data publishing, management etc tools.. 

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:GDS_Technologies%27_Portable_Water_Generators

Electricity generator that runs on water; preumably taking forward Stanley Meyer's water-powered-car technology. Being marketed as one for off-the-grid, outdoor purposes so as to avoid oppressive licensing regimes that would prevent it.

https://hopegirl2012.wordpress.com/2014/11/11/debut-the-peoples-free-energy-show-with-hopegirl-on-the-one-network/

The Peoples Free Energy Show, With HopeGirl on The One Network

Online radio talk show

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/compulsory-voting-bill/article1-1284330.aspx

Gujarat makes voting in local polls (panchayat and municipal) compulsory

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/clean-air-a-fundamental-right-says-green-court/article1-1290529.aspx?hts0021

Clean air a fundamental right, says green court

https://www.gcmaf.eu/

A cancer treatment, shared by Kimberly Gamble on a video by Thrive.

http://rt.com/news/209619-sunfire-water-synthetic-fuel/

Technology to create Synthetic petroleum-fuel from carbon dioxide and water

https://www.thenewenergyindustry.com/learning-network/

Magrav (Magnetic-Gravitational) technology : videos explaining

http://rt.com/usa/ineos-biofuel-waste-ethanol-500/

Florida company announces mass production of biofuel made of waste

http://resonance.is

Nassim Haramein and team.

http://console.ejatlas.org/

Mapping ecological conflicts and spaces of resistance

http://thevotingnews.com/at-last-electronic-voting-machines-will-have-a-paper-trail-jagran-post/

From April 2013, "Dr.Swamy had argued that EVMs must be scrapped because they are not tamper-proof. They could be retained only if there was transparency via a paper trail, so that every voter knew that his vote had been registered correctly. Even Japan, which started the process of electronic voting had now reverted to paper ballots. Many other countries had also fallen back on paper ballots for the same reason.The commission, which had stubbornly resisted the demand for either scrapping EVMs or introducing a paper trail, began to display some reasonableness in the matter after Dr.Swamy moved the Supreme Court and a Bench comprising Justices P.Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi declared that it would hear the matter on a priority basis, so that the proceedings concluded before the next parliamentary election."

..and now, Sep 2014:

http://thevotingnews.com/protest-to-election-commission-over-electronic-voting-machines-the-indian-express/

Belittling concerns about the same case, the author passes along a claim as if it was a fact; despite only "repeated assurances" and no actual explanation or evidence provided: "Despite fears of EVM tampering having been proved wrong, "... when just over an year earlier the opposite has been proven. The article aims to paint as irrational the concerns raised, to belittle local groups in J&K advocating against relying on paperless EVMS, and instead of addressing the concerns, goes into polarizing the peoples of Gujarat and J&K, unnecessarily making the issue all about Gujaratis' honour instead of about J&K's people's genuine right to a free and fair election.