Friday, October 31, 2014

Hiring in groups of 3

Thinking aloud here...

Open challenge to organizations desperate for good talent : change your recruitment pattern thus:

Give a combined job description of what you need from a team of 3 people. And invite job applications from groups of 3 buddies rather than from individuals. Instead of giving Rs.30k/month salary to one person and expecting him/her to deliver 3 logon ka kaam (which will NEVER happen the way you want no matter how much money you throw at it, please learn and realize this by now), pay each person Rs.10k only, but hire 3 ppl who are already a team who will then deliver a lot more than that 30k single person would.

There's something magical about the number 3 when it comes to teamwork. Through college and school, I've mostly been in groups of 3 friends doing things together. In two people, there's chance of conflict and the team abruptly falling apart, but with 3 there's stability, much like a tripod stand.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Campaign to Stop Killer Robots

Statement by ClearPath Robotics
13 August 2014

An open letter to the public –

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots was launched in April 2013, bringing the topic of "killer robots" under public scrutiny – and for good reason.

To the people against killer robots: we support you.

This technology has the potential to kill indiscriminately and to proliferate rapidly; early prototypes already exist. Despite our continued involvement with Canadian and international military research and development, Clearpath Robotics believes that the development of killer robots is unwise, unethical, and should be banned on an international scale.

The Context
How do we define "killer robot"? Is it any machine developed for military purposes? Any machine which takes actions without human direction? No. We're referring specifically to "lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS)"; systems where a human does not make the final decision for a machine to take a potentially lethal action.

Clearpath Robotics is an organization that engineers autonomous vehicles, systems, and solutions for a global market. As current leaders in the research and development space for unmanned vehicles, making this kind of statement is a risk. However, given the potentially horrific consequences of allowing development of lethal autonomous robots to continue, we are compelled to insist upon the strictest regulation of this technology.

The Double-Edged Sword
There are, of course, pros and cons to the ethics of autonomous lethal weapons and our team has debated many of them at length. In the end, however, we, as a whole, feel the negative implications of these systems far outweigh any benefits.

Is a computer paired with the correct technology less likely to make rash, stress-driven decisions while under fire? Possibly. Conversely, would a robot have the morality, sense, or emotional understanding to intervene against orders that are wrong or inhumane? No.

Would computers be able to make the kinds of subjective decisions required for checking the legitimacy of targets and ensuring the proportionate use of force in the foreseeable future? No.

Could this technology lead those who possess it to value human life less? Quite frankly, we believe this will be the case.

This is an incredibly complex issue. We need to have this discussion now and take a stance; the robotics revolution has arrived and is not going to wait for these debates to occur.

Clearpath's Responsibility
Clearpath Robotics strives to improve the lives of billions by automating the world's dull, dirty, and dangerous jobs. This belief does not preclude the use of autonomous robots in the military; we will continue to support our military clients and provide them with autonomous systems – especially in areas with direct civilian applications such as logistics, reconnaissance, and search and rescue.

In our eyes, no nation in the world is ready for killer robots – technologically, legally, or ethically. More importantly, we see no compelling justification that this technology needs to exist in human hands. After all, the development of killer robots isn't a necessary step on the road to self-driving cars, robot caregivers, safer manufacturing plants, or any of the other multitudes of ways autonomous robots can make our lives better. Robotics is at a tipping point, and it's up to all of us to decide what path this technology takes.

Take Action
As a company which continues to develop robots for various militaries worldwide, Clearpath Robotics has more to lose than others might by advocating entire avenues of research be closed off. Nevertheless, we call on anyone who has the potential to influence public policy to stop the development of killer robots before it's too late.

We encourage those who might see business opportunities in this technology to seek other ways to apply their skills and resources for the betterment of humankind. Finally, we ask everyone to consider the many ways in which this technology would change the face of war for the worse. Voice your opinion and take a stance. #killerrobots

http://www.stopkillerrobots.org/

Sunday, October 26, 2014

For Free Energy Critics


Has anyone else noticed this : In most fields / sectors, the critic is someone who first tries out the thing in question for himself/herself, and then makes his/her jugements. A food critic will actually bother to eat at the restaurant first; a movie critic will actually go watch that movie first. And then they let loose.

But in the realm of free energy technologies, the critics seem to feel no need to oblige for any honest first-hand experience. You won't see them actually visiting or inspecting those labs.

They'll just use the standard textbook theories to dismiss any new thing straight from their armchairs. At best they drill into the sentences the inventors SAY and nit-pick them as if it's a capital crime to be not fully explanatory or fluent or miss out some detail or make an error.

Get off your butt, critics.

Open challenge to actually go visit one of these experiments, scout the area, video/photo your evidence, take the trouble of doing measurements etc and THEN publish your dismissal of said technology.

And since we know how one movie is different from the other even if both have the same director and so need to be seen and evaluated separately, you're going to have to repeat that process for the next experiment too; no laziness of dismissing all future experiments based on the failure of one. Every inventor makes failed outputs first, in case you didn't know that.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Coca-Cola plant in Mehdiganj near Varanasi

This is a good example case for illustrating what happens when we see only the economics numbers when judging a situation. Our media and our experts and of course our leaders will tell us that we should encourage MNCs to do business in India, it will lead to more jobs, rise in GDP and more prosperity for the country. We paint all enterprises with the same brush and completely forget that every particular industry has particular material properties. There is a world of difference between a services company and a soft drinks manufacturer for example, but our typical reporting and analysis don't care about the differences.

Below is what that seemingly innocent and optimistic "Dil Mangey More" perspective usually translates into once you get on the ground. The only way ANY soft drinks industry can be viable or "sustainable" in a water-stressed country like India is if they were rain-water-harvesting all their water, or if they were operating only during rains (which is financially impossible for a 24x7x365 industry). And that would make their drinks too expensive to do any business in India.

On top of that, this excerpt is raising a lot more questions : How the heck is a beverage-making industry, which manufactures a product for human consumption, having such toxic pollutants in their effluents that they need to be prevented from seeping into the ground? What exactly are they putting in??

"And pollution from the plant has destroyed our fields." In 2002-2003, construction work on a national highway blocked the plant's effluent discharge drain, flooding the nearby fields with wastewater and destroying hectares of standing crop. Farmers say that effluents seeped into the soil, rendering it infertile.

Following complaints about Coca-Cola's bottling plants in Kerala and West Bengal, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) conducted a survey of 16 soft-drink bottling plants across India. The effluent sludge of eight Coca-Cola bottling plants was found to have unacceptably high levels of cadmium, lead and chromium. Mehdiganj was one of them.

P M Ansari, Additional Director, CPCB, explained that the high heavy metal concentrations posed a health risk if the sludge was not disposed of correctly. "The sludge must be stored in lined, concrete landfills specifically designed for this purpose." At present, Uttar Pradesh has no such landfills."

--from http://infochangeindia.org/water-resources/news/mehdiganj-protestors-on-hunger-strike-to-close-coke-bottling-plant.html

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

Story of Stuff Project


Coca-Cola has been ordered to shut down operations in Mehdiganj, India for using too much water and violating pollution laws, but the corporation wants to keep business running as usual.

Tell Coca-Cola to respect Mehdiganj villagers' right to clean water and to shut down its plant immediately!


Coca-Cola is determined to drain the village of Mehdiganj, India, dry despite a government order to shut down the plant for using too much water and violating pollution limits. According to Indian authorities, the groundwater level in the village has gone from "safe" to "over-exploited" -- the worst designation of groundwater, before it dries up completely -- in the time the Coke plant has been operating.

Mehdiganj villagers have been protesting against the Coke plant for years. The villagers' protests have escalated as their wells have dried up, forcing them to walk ever-greater distances for fresh water. As the water level drops, crop yields are dropping with it, sucking out the economic basis of the village and endangering the livelihoods of thousands of residents. Meanwhile, Coke has spent much of this year pressing for a massive expansion of the plant that would increase water use by five times. The company has shown that it is totally disconnected from the danger it is imposing on the village.

Tell Coke to follow the Pollution Control Board's order to close its Mehdiganj plant immediately!

Studies conducted by both the Indian government agencies and independent organizations have found that Coke has located many of its plants in water-stressed areas of India and bottling operations in these areas have threatened groundwater in many places. Furthermore, Coke plants have also been caught polluting the surroundings and selling toxic waste to unsuspecting farmers to be used as fertilizer.

After years of watching groundwater levels drop dramatically, Mehdiganj villagers finally have Coca-Cola on the defensive. One villager, sixty year-old Savitri Rai, says police beat her when she first began protesting the plant a decade ago. In June this year, under pressure from the community, the government ordered the Coke plant to be shut down for a number of violations. Coke has appealed the closure in the courts and has been allowed to temporarily operate while the courts consider the appeal. Meanwhile, a massive expansion that Coke had been planning, which would greatly expand the rate at which it sucked up Mehdiganj's water, was permanently denied.

Tell Coke to respect villagers' right to water and end its exploitive operations in Mehdiganj, India!

While there is no denying Coca-Cola's enormous set of resources, we have people power on our side. In joining in solidarity with the people of Mehdiganj, our Community can influence global public opinion and help villagers secure access to clean, safe, local water. Water is becoming an increasingly scarce resource around the world. Many corporations argue that they are free to use as much water as they want, even if it makes entire areas uninhabitable. Careful stewardship of our resources is at the heart of our Story, ensuring that we'll be around to continue telling stories long into the future.

The Story of Stuff Project works to draw connections between the cycle of production and   consumption and its impact on society. By joining in the stories of communities such as Mehdiganj, we can help illuminate the impact that corporations like Coca-Cola have on peoples' lives. Coke tries to bill itself as a socially responsible company but our Community has the   power to expose its dirty practices to customers worldwide, bringing much-needed pressure for positive change. When our Community unites behind a cause as important as this one, we can create a force that can't be ignored.

Thank you for all you do!
Allison Cook, Director of Community Engagement, on behalf of The Story of Stuff team
 
 
Resources:
India Resource Center: Mehdiganj - The Issues, March 7, 2013
Bloomberg: Farmers Fight Coca-Cola as India's Groundwater Dries Up, October 9, 2014




At the Story of Stuff, we're rewriting the narrative that has us overworked and trashing the planet. We're working to build a world that is healthy, sustainable, and just.

Sustain our movement.



11 part documentary series on alternative perspectives on Cancer

This series has been eye-opening. Must-watch for anyone who wants to know alternative perspectives in the field, particularly in matters of nutrition and lifestyle choices that one can take as preventive measure. From a public health policy perspective, it shows up a lot of low-cost measures that can be tried, for those families who simply cannot afford the very expensive mainstream methods in any case. And raises a lot of questions too of course on why some obvious things have been neglected by our medical fraternity. My mom passed away from cancer (actually, from chemotherapy!) when I was 17. I was able to relate with a lot of the things shared here and am able to connect the dots of many of the factors that led to her illness, and how after some signs of improvement things had suddenly gone downhill.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

I am left handed

I am left handed. I was born that way. I cannot write or do delicate
tasks with my right hand no matter how much I try, whereas my left
hand can do them easily. Since holding the tumbler is better done by
my left hand, obviously I use my right hand when I have to wash myself
during daily morning routines. Now that would really offend some of my
more religious fellow humans, as our traditions of taking prasad,
doing puja etc with the right hand have evolved with the assumption
that the entire population is right-handed only. So I have take care
to keep that little detail private and not tell anybody. Still, I have
to eat, write etc with my left hand only and that is visible to all..
it's impossible to hide.

Should the majority of the population which is right-handed, consider
me to be a threat to their way of life? Should they all look down upon
me, treat me as sub-human because of my left-handedness? What if I was
also persecuted for being born left-handed the same way a minority of
the general population is born LGBT? And would it be OK to demand that
I make all the efforts to change to being right-handed just to make
the rest of the right-handed people comfortable?

http://www.satyamevjayate.in/accepting-alternative-sexualities.aspx

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

A Hindu-Muslim couple walks into a bar...

Carrying on the baton from:
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-hindu-muslim-couple-walks-into-a-bar

A Hindu-Muslim couple walked into a bar. Like it happens in the marriage courts of India, the bartender told them that he cannot serve them if they're from different religions. The one option that does exist: most bartenders of the country don't even know about it; and under that the bartender will first call the parents of the duo and find out if they have any objection to these two having drinks together (!!). To avoid all this, the quickest way for them to get to their drinks was by having one of them converting into the other's religion. Even in that, converting one way was easier than converting the other way. The couple picked the easiest option, got their drinks, and when they walked out of the bar to go home, were attacked by some local organization's members for committing Love Jihad. A vendor sitting across the street watching all of this, said to his friend, "Funny. How in the world does having some drinks together have anything at all to do with religion?"

Simple blood plasma antibodies transfusion from Ebola survivors shown to cure Ebola; expensive GM ZMapp "cure" is a cheap imitation of the same thing

"Convalescent serum uses human antibodies of survivors.  ZMapp uses mouse antibodies that have been genetically modified and then grown in genetically modified tobacco plants. "
This needs more looking into, of course. But there are living survivors swearing by it. If true, then it turns the tables on the conventional isolationist medical paradigm : rather than staying away, people can come together to cure each other; survivors can turn from victims into heroes, and "infect" several victims with the cure and the cure can be made to spread and propagate the same way the disease is, rather than relying upon expensive, side-effect-laden chemicals manufactured by profiteering pharma giants.
Copy-posting from http://www.infowars.com/is-a-possible-ebola-cure-being-hidden-from-the-public/



Is convalescent serum unproven as the WHO says? It's a treatment technique that's been used effectively for 124 years, called passive immunity.

Dr. Kent Brantley and others who have contracted Ebola have been eager to receive and to pass on blood from survivors of Ebola.  He received blood plasma antibodies from a patient he treated in Africa that survived.  After Dr. Brantley survived, he donated plasma antibodies to the next American doctor to be infected, Dr. Sacra who also recovered.  Brantley has also donated blood to two others who are still fighting Ebola: Ashoka Kukpo, the NBC cameraman, and Nina Pham the first Dallas nurse to contract the disease.

Brantley is not the only medical worker who appears to believe the treatment is effective.  Will Pooley, the British nurse who survived Ebola, flew to Atlanta to offer his blood and a Spanish Ebola survivor flew to Spain to give her blood to a Spanish priest with Ebola, but arrived too late.

In Africa, demand for survivors' blood has created a "black market" that the World Health Organization (WHO) says needs to be shut down with help from governments.

The WHO said months ago that the treatment is "unproven" but "promising" and that they need to "look into" it someday.

Still no word on when that's going to happen.

As mainstream media casts doubt on convalescent serum's effectiveness, it promotes the GMO drug ZMapp as a "miracle".

ZMapp was created by a small company backed by DARPA, the military industrial complex's bio-weapons bureaucy and Big Tobacco.

Mass production of the GMO drug is ramping up with funding from the Gates Foundation, and the bio-pharmaceutical industry.

Which begs the questions:  why develop a GMO imitation if the human version is "unproven" and why delay treatment when a large supply of convalescent serum is now available from survivors?

DARPA's "miracle" drug imitates a strategy WHO says is unproven
A vial of diphtheria antitoxin, dated 1895

A vial of diphtheria antitoxin, dated 1895

ZMapp imitates convalescent serum's method to fight Ebola — antibodies.  Unlike a vaccine where an antigen (usually a dead or weakened version of the disease) is supposed to provoke the body's immune system into producing antibodies over time to prevent the disease, convalescent serum supplies antibodies by a transfusion of the plasma (serum) of a survivor (convalescent).  Those antibodies can begin fighting the disease immediately, jump starting or boosting the person's immune response.

The method is called passive immunity and it has a long history — all the way back to the 1880's.  German scientist Emil von Behring won a Nobel Prize in 1901 for his work in successfully treating diphtheria and tetanus with convalescent serum.  Blood plasma antibodies were used in the early 1940s to prevent and treat measles and hepatitis.  Techniques for large scale fractionation of plasma to separate antibodies were developed by Cohn and funded by the US government as World War II preparation.  Most recently a Hong Kong scientist used convalescent serum to successfully treat patients in the SARS outbreak.

He claimed a quick recovery and no side effects for the 70 patients he treated.

study of convalescent serum treatment for Ebola patients was done during the 1995 outbreak.  It was a small study, with only 8 patients.  But all previous Ebola outbreaks have been relatively small.  This outbreak only affected 316 people with 80% casualty rate.  In the study, 7 of 8 convalescent serum patients survived — a 12.5% casualty rate.  The one who died no longer had fever but had an epileptic seizure and was found dead, next to her bed, with a head injury.  So it's possible that it was 100% effective.

Table1

The study looked very promising but when it was released as a paper in 1999, they added anecdotal accounts of 12 other patients who received convalescent serum, 11 of whom died.  Why they added this is puzzling since, unlike the study, we know nothing about the patients, donors or blood serum.  The study was carefully monitored to be sure that patients received clean blood with no Ebola antigens or other diseases present.  The age and condition of patients and donors was documented along with how long it had been since the donors had recovered.  None of that information was given for the footnoted patients.

How does ZMapp compare to convalescent serum?

Convalescent serum uses human antibodies of survivors.  ZMapp uses mouse antibodies that have been genetically modified and then grown in genetically modified tobacco plants.

The ZMapp vaccine was used in a test of 18 monkeys.  All survived.  In humans, it has been given to 7 patients worldwide — 3 Liberians and 4 westerners.  It's unpublished whether the 3 Liberians who received ZMapp also got convalescent serum.  Two survived, one died.  Of the remaining four, Kent Brantley and Will Pooley got both ZMapp and convalescent serum. Nancy Writebol got ZMapp and blood transfusions but not convalescent serum.  She said she began to have an allergic reaction to ZMapp and they reduced the dosage.  Miguel Pajares, a Spanish priest, received only ZMapp and died.  So its not clear whether ZMapp or convalescent serum cured Brantley and Pooley since they got both.  Of patients who received only ZMapp, 1 survived and 1 didn't. In fairness, the trial is too small to draw conclusions but with only a 50% survival for the "miracle" drug, it's the only one being put into production.

Table

What is the treatment strategy planned by governments and corporations?

A large supply of real human antibodies is already on hand from thousands of Ebola survivors.  Testing donor blood for disease and creating a donor registry to match blood types could be done today but the plan is to pursue the artificial patented approach.

The Gates Foundation and bio-pharmaceutical industry want to grow the ZMapp GMO antibodies in animals rather than plants.  They say that approach will increase production in the long run but delay deployment of the drug for months.

By the time Big Pharma ramps up production of the GMO "plantibodies" used in ZMapp, Ebola will be a worldwide pandemic at the current exponential rate of growth in Africa.  Even though the safety and efficacy will not be known, a lot of customers will literally be dying for their product.  They may be "forced" to charge exorbitant prices for a limited supply.

Most of the treatments in development utilize genetic attacks against the Ebola virus.  What are the potential side effects of these treatments?  To stop a pandemic they will be rushed to market without testing for safety or effectiveness.  Even if a drug is safe and effective, will dangerous additives be present when it's mass produced?  And will these untested drugs be mandated for the population?

In contrast to experimental GMO drugs, as long as convalescent serum is matched for blood type and screened for disease, there are no dangerous side effects.

Even though convalescent serum looks promising, it is not a magic cure either.   Palliative care, keeping the patients hydrated and electrolytes balanced, are major factors in survival.   The patients physical condition and the health of their immune system is even more important.

Laying Groundwork for Medical Tyranny and Record Profits

Cleanup crews delayed for days, nurses treating the patient for 2 days without protective clothing, a nurse with Ebola and manifesting a high fever given the OK to fly commercially , etc.  Is it merely jaw-dropping incompetence?  If it's incompetence, then why haven't the people in charged been fired or at least transferred?  Given the implicit endorsement of the violations of protocols and officials at the federal, state and local level not only lying to the public about risks but actually modeling behavior that will spread a pandemic, it looks like they would like another crisis that will be an opportunity for the government to increase control via a medical tyranny and for their corporation friends to transfer more wealth from the public to themselves.

Ignoring and dismissing transfusions of antibodies from survivors to patients while promoting a GMO imitation has implications beyond mere profiteering. We've seen this before with natural treatments denounced as ineffective while synthetic imitations of the same treatment are promoted e.g., medical marijuana versus marinol.

But if convalescent serum, used successfully for treatment for 124 years and highly valued by Ebola survivors, is not known to be effective, then why is the government mimicking it with GMO plantibodies?  Even with a 70% casualty rate, there are thousands of survivors who could become donors.  All that's needed for immediate deployment of the treatment is a donor registry and testing.  But western governments and NGO's are going to focus on a "magic" solution that won't be available for months fiddling as Africa burns down.   In only 2 months, at the current rate of growth, Ebola will infect between 5% and 15% of the population.  Many will flee the chaos and death and it will go worldwide.  The potential for population culling, medical tyranny and corporate profits are staggering.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Libertarian Municipalism : direct democracy experiment in Rojava, Syria/Kurdistan

http://www.popularresistance.org/why-is-the-world-ignoring-the-revolutionary-kurds-in-syria/

Excerpt:

The autonomous region of Rojava, as it exists today, is one of few bright spots – albeit a very bright one – to emerge from the tragedy of the Syrian revolution. Having driven out agents of the Assad regime in 2011, and despite the hostility of almost all of its neighbours, Rojava has not only maintained its independence, but is a remarkable democratic experiment. Popular assemblies have been created as the ultimate decision-making bodies, councils selected with careful ethnic balance (in each municipality, for instance, the top three officers have to include one Kurd, one Arab and one Assyrian or Armenian Christian, and at least one of the three has to be a woman), there are women's and youth councils, and, in a remarkable echo of the armed Mujeres Libres (Free Women) of Spain, a feminist army, the "YJA Star" militia (the "Union of Free Women", the star here referring to the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar), that has carried out a large proportion of the combat operations against the forces of Islamic State.

How can something like this happen and still be almost entirely ignored by the international community, even, largely, by the International left? Mainly, it seems, because the Rojavan revolutionary party, the PYD, works in alliance with Turkey's Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK), a Marxist guerilla movement that has since the 1970s been engaged in a long war against the Turkish state. Nato, the US and EU officially classify them as a "terrorist" organisation. Meanwhile, leftists largely write them off as Stalinists.

But, in fact, the PKK itself is no longer anything remotely like the old, top-down Leninist party it once was. Its own internal evolution, and the intellectual conversion of its own founder, Abdullah Ocalan, held in a Turkish island prison since 1999, have led it to entirely change its aims and tactics.

The PKK has declared that it no longer even seeks to create a Kurdish state. Instead, inspired in part by the vision of social ecologist and anarchist Murray Bookchin, it has adopted the vision of "libertarian municipalism", calling for Kurds to create free, self-governing communities, based on principles of direct democracy, that would then come together across national borders – that it is hoped would over time become increasingly meaningless. In this way, they proposed, the Kurdish struggle could become a model for a wordwide movement towards genuine democracy, co-operative economy, and the gradual dissolution of the bureaucratic nation-state.

Questioning forced vaccination

..Posting this with an earnest appeal to all to think twice before blindly supporting the propaganda for forced vaccinations, especially where it's being done through schools, which is basically a cheap shortcut to "catch'em'all" and a subversion of the country's educational infrastructure while depriving parents of their right to decide what happens to their child's body. Coercion never works, period. Please read on to know the full extent of the disasters that have happened in Chad and Pakistan resulting from this mentality of doing good by force.

And if you do choose to speculate upon this topic, kindly keep in central focus the wellbeing of our young, the basic chemical composition of these vaccines (yes, please try to find that out for yourself first) and the facts on the ground. Lawsuits have been filed. Investigations are being carried out. Several kids who were in perfect health just prior to vaccination have already died or are facing a life of abnormality. Is it fair to justify it all in the name of preventing some naturally occurring diseases that wouldn't have killed/maimed this many people by themselves?

India Holds Bill Gates Accountable For His Vaccine Crimes

India-HPV-Vaccine

As Bill Gates faces a lawsuit for the illegal testing of tribal children in India, it appears that his crimes against humanity have finally caught up with him.
A recent report published by Health Impact News has reported that the Gates Foundation has found itself facing a pending lawsuit, due to an investigation that is being carried out by the Supreme Courts of India.
Health Impact News stated:
"While fraud and corruption are revealed on almost a daily basis now in the vaccine industry, the U.S. mainstream media continues to largely ignore such stories. Outside the U.S., however, the vaccine empires are beginning to crumble, and English versions of the news in mainstream media outlets are available via the Internet.
One such country is India, where the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and their vaccine empire are under fire, including a pending lawsuit currently being investigated by the India Supreme Court." [1]
The Health Impact News article centered largely on a four-page report that was recently published by Economic Times India.
Eager to know more, I investigated their story and discovered that the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and two organizations funded by them, PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) and GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), have found themselves under fire, after a writ of petition originally submitted to the Supreme Court of India, by Kalpana Mehta, Nalini Bhanot and Dr. Rukmini Rao in 2012, was finally heard by the courts.
The petitioners submitting the petition stated:
"BMGF, PATH and WHO were criminally negligent trialling the vaccines on a vulnerable, uneducated and under-informed population school administrators, students and their parents who were not provided informed consent or advised of potential adverse effects or required to be monitored post-vaccination." [2]
 

Young Tribal Girls Tested With HPV Vaccines

The Economic Times India published their report August 2014. They stated that in 2009, tests had been carried out on 16,000 tribal school children in Andhra Pradesh, India, using the human papiloma virus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil.
According to the report written by KP Narayana Kumar, within a month of receiving the vaccine, many of the children fell ill and by 2010, five of them had died. A further two children were reported to have died in Vadodara, Gujarat, where an estimated 14,000 tribal children were vaccinated with another brand of the HPV vaccine, Cervarix, manufactured by GlaxoSmitheKline (GSK).
Shockingly, the report stated that many of the consent forms used to vaccinate the girls were signed "illegally," either by the wardens from the hostels where many of the girls resided, or using thumbprints from illiterate parents.
This travesty was not discovered until a team of health activists from the non-government organization SAMA, an organization specializing in women's health, decided to investigate what had been going on.
According to the report, they were shocked to discover that a total of 120 girls had been taken ill, suffering from a variety of symptoms, including "epileptic seizures, severe stomach aches, headaches and mood swings."
The Economic Times stated:
"The Sama report also said there had been cases of early onset of menstruation following the vaccination, heavy bleeding and severe menstrual cramps among many students. The standing committee pulled up the relevant state governments for the shoddy investigation into these deaths.
It said it was disturbed to find that 'all the seven deaths were summarily dismissed as unrelated to vaccinations without in-depth investigations …' the speculative causes were suicides, accidental drowning in well (why not suicide?), malaria, viral infections, subarachnoid hemorrhage (without autopsy) etc."
This information is even more shocking when you discover that the organization funding the study was none other than the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who declared the project a total success.
Kumar wrote:
"According to the BMGF, the WHO, the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India have all recommended vaccination 'as a proven and highly effective preventive measure for cervical cancer.' The project used vaccines that are licensed in India and that have been administered safely around the world tens of millions of times, preventing countless cases of cervical cancer illness and death, 'maintains a BMGF spokesperson in an emailed response (see GAVI & PHFI create incentives …'"
He continued:
"BMGF's role in funding the controversial studies, however, has led to many healthcare activists in India voicing their apprehensions. 'BMGF has to take full responsibility because PATH is funded by them. It is also unethical when people championing the cause of vaccines are the same ones who are also investing in vaccine development,' said V Rukmini Rao, one of the activists who filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court in connection with the HPV vaccine studies." [3]
Absolutely, and this is not the first time that these organizations have been caught illegally testing vaccines in developing countries.

Gates Foundation, WHO, PATH, GAVI, UNICEF Behind Chad Vaccine Disaster

In December 2012, in the small village of Gouro, Chad, Africa, situated on the edge of the Sahara Desert, five hundred children were locked into their school, threatened that if they did not agree to being force-vaccinated with a meningitis A vaccine, they would receive no further education.
These children were vaccinated without their parents' knowledge. This vaccine was an unlicensed product still going through the third and fourth phases of testing.
Within hours, one hundred and six children began to suffer from headaches, vomiting, severe uncontrollable convulsions and paralysis. The children's wait for a doctor began. They had to wait one full week for a doctor to arrive while the team of vaccinators proceeded to vaccinate others in the village.
When the doctor finally came, he could do nothing for the children. The team of vaccinators, upon seeing what had happened, fled the village in fear.
The original report written in a small, local newspaper called La Voix, the only newspaper to have published the original story, stated that forty children were finally transferred to a hospital in Faya and later taken by plane to two hospitals in N'Djamena, the capital city of Chad.

After being shuttled around like cattle, many of these sick, weak children were finally dumped back in their village without a diagnosis and each family was given an unconfirmed sum of £1000 by the government. No forms were signed and no documentation was seen. They were informed that their children had not suffered a vaccine injury.
However, if this were true, why would their government award each family £1000 in what has been described as hush money?
The only mainstream news channel to have highlighted the plight of these poor children was a local channel called Tchad, which filmed footage of the then-Prime Minister of Chad visiting the children in hospital.
VacTruth has copies of both reports, along with medical and government documents.
Despite this evidence and VacTruth's detailed and extensive coverage, including highlighting television footage, once again, the vaccine program was hailed a success. To watch videos reporting the story, see the references at the end of this article. [4] [5]
The groups involved with this project were PATH, WHO, UNICEF, and the Gates Foundation. During investigations, it was discovered that the whole project was being run by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In a press release, the Gates Foundation stated:
"MenAfriVac is a tremendous success story for the global health community. It is the first vaccine developed specifically for Africa, and it proves that global partnerships can develop and deliver high-quality, low-cost vaccines.
Ten years ago, we invested in the Meningitis Vaccine Project,  an innovative model that brought together PATH, the World Health Organization, African health ministers and the Serum Institute of India today, we celebrate the result: a modern vaccine selling for less than US 50 cents per dose with the potential to end Africa's deadly meningitis epidemics.
We believe that vaccines are one of the best buys in global health. In January, Bill and Melinda Gates called on the global community to make this the Decade of Vaccines. There is no better way to launch this decade than with a new vaccine that will improve and save lives." [6]
VacTruth can prove otherwise.

Government Inquiry Holds GAVI Accountable for Multiple Deaths

Despite the fact the Gates Foundation call vaccines "one of the best buys in global health," a government inquiry in Pakistan has found the complete opposite.
In 2011, the Express Tribune published a story stating that:
"ISLAMABAD: A government inquiry has found that polio vaccines for infants funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation are causing deaths and disabilities in regional countries including Pakistan.
The startling revelation is part of an inquiry report prepared by the Prime Minister's Inspection Commission (PMIC) on the working of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI). The PMIC, headed by Malik Amjad Noon, has recommended that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani immediately suspend the administration of all types of vaccines funded by the GAVI."
According to the Express Tribune, the main vaccinations in question were the polio vaccine and the 5-in-1 pentavelent vaccine, which were said to be responsible for the deaths and disability of a number of children in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Japan.
The vaccines were funded by the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization (GAVI) an organization financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, the Rockefeller Foundation, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank.
Writing on the official report, made exclusive to the newspaper, the Express Tribune stated:
"The report states, 'The procured vaccines are not tested in laboratories to confirm their efficacy and genuineness. This leaves room for use of spurious and counterfeit vaccines.'" [7] (emphasis added)
If this is true, then once again the Gates Foundation has been linked to mass vaccination initiatives using untested, unsafe vaccinations.

The Gates Foundation and WHO Labeled Unethical by Medical Experts

In 2012, Ramesh Shankar Mumbai, an author writing for the Pharmabiz website, reported that two medical experts from India had accused the Gates Foundation and WHO of being unethical.
In his report, Mumbai stated that Dr. Neetu Vashisht and Dr. Jacob Puliyel of the Department of Pediatrics at St. Stephens Hospital in Delhi, wrote the following information in their report in the April issue of Indian Journal of Medical Ethics.
"It was unethical for WHO and Bill Gates to flog this program when they knew 10 years back that it was never to succeed. Getting poor countries to expend their scarce resources on an impossible dream over the last 10 years was unethical."
Pharmabiz.com reported that Dr. Vashisht and Dr. Puliyel had continued their report by stating:
"Another major ethical issue raised by the campaign is the failure to thoroughly investigate the increase in the incidence of non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (NPAFP) in areas where many doses of vaccine were used. NPAFP is clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly."
Pharmabiz.com continued:
"The authors noted that while India was polio-free in 2011, in the same year, there were 47500 cases of NPAFP. While data from India's National Polio Surveillance Project showed NPAFP rate increased in proportion to the number of polio vaccine doses received, independent studies showed that children identified with NPAFP 'were at more than twice the risk of dying than those with wild polio infection.'" [8]
The corruption and deceit by these organizations does not stop there.

The Gates Foundation Blamed for 10,000 Vaccine-Related Deaths

In 2013, yet another report named the Gates Foundation and GAVI as being responsible for multiple deaths using untested vaccinations on children from the developing world.
The report, published on the website Occupy Corporatism and written by Susanne Posel stated:
"It was found out through an investigation, that GAVI was using an untested vaccine; giving this dangerous vaccine to Pakistani children shows the lack of empathy associated with these organizations.
GAVI was blamed for the deaths of 10,000 children in Pakistan when they came in and administered polio vaccines that resulted in casualties." [9]
As we know, GAVI is heavily funded by the Gates Foundation. [10]
So, what was the name of the organization that investigated GAVI and found them using untested polio vaccinations in Pakistan?
According to the Express Tribune article, which I referred to earlier in this article, it was none other than the Indian government, who, upon discovering the shocking truth, recommended the immediate suspension of the administration of all types of vaccines funded by GAVI. [7]
In a recent radio show hosted by Sallie O. Elkordy, Susanne Posel gave her frank and honest views on the whole sorry mess that we find ourselves in today.
Warning: This report is not for the faint-hearted. [11]

Conclusion

It is difficult to believe that, despite the mounting evidence outlining the many crimes against humanity that have been committed by the Gates Foundation, GAVI, UNICEF and PATH, Bill Gates is portrayed as a hero among many.
However, according to the definition of hero in the Oxford Dictionary, the word hero means:
"A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities." [12]
The dictionary I used said nothing about vaccinating innocent, vulnerable children with untested and unsafe vaccinations, causing them to suffer agonizing, untimely deaths.
 
 
==================================================================
MOKSH: (Monitoring Knowledge & Social Health)
An International Network of Eminent Scientists Questioning the Science Behind "Science"
Odisha, India
http://www.facebook.com/jagannath.chatterjee
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Information-on-Vaccine-Risks/211069518950053
http://currenthealthscenario.blogspot.in/
http://pecangroup.org/educate-yourself/vaccination/50-reasons-not-to-vaccinate-infants
Disclaimer: Views expressed in my mails are my own and may not represent that of the organisation.
===================================================================

__._,_.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

"The Quest for The Cures... Continues" 11 part documentary on Cancer

"The Quest for The Cures... Continues" 11 part documentary on Cancer
that's currently playing (each episode is put on youtube for a day)

www.thetruthaboutcancer.com

I watched their Episode 3 - "Eliminate these Dirty Dozen to prevent
Cancer" a couple of days back, and found it very good.. wrapped up a
lot of important details .

Their first two episodes are:
Episode 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc1rtIxvkao
Episode 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdR9hYtvLBI

Saturday, October 18, 2014

To the women in my life

To P, for initiating me on the path of caring for those who are worlds
away from mine.

To S and S, for giving me feedback that I seriously needed, when I
needed it, and thus slaying the monster that I was turning into.

To O, for being so alive and so in-your-face.

To S, for making me realize that to love a woman doesn't mean wanting
her to be with you; it means wanting to see her happy and full of life
wherever she is and whoever she is with.

To A, for showing me that resourcefullness and intellect do not need
to have a well-off financial background.

To X, Y and Z, and subsequently many more, for sharing with complete
trust and vulnerability the pain and trauma of being sexually abused,
for making it so real and close for me that it fundamentally changed
the value systems I'd associated with masculinity.

To P, for making me rethink how our streets can be made safer.

To the attendant at the petrol pump, for making me aware though her
silent terror and insistence on me getting off my bike first, how it
feels to be teased and groped by customers when you're serving them.

To D, for showing me that strength comes from vulnerability.

To L, for helping me notice when walking on the streets together how
fundamentally different it is for a woman to be walking in public in
my country; how much sexual harassment behaviour has been programmed
into our otherwise normal Indian males by the society we're living in.

To S, for displaying a mastery over power tools and hammers and nails
and wood so skillfully that it destroyed my preconceptions of what are
masculine and feminine jobs.

To K, for showing me when it's a good time to shut up and get things going.

To N, for standing up for yourself, having extraordinary courage under
institutional fire, yet remaining vulnerable, and for continuing to
care for those under your charge, even while you were being paraded in
your whole fraternity as a bad person.

To L, for showing me when it's a good time to take a pause and talk
about uncomfortable things.

To S, for showing me how it's not such a good idea to panic about not
being married yet after the 29th birthday. (:P)

To R, for constantly reminding me about the OTHER perspectives that I
was missing out in my understanding of the world.

To S, for showing me how not to take things so seriously, to be and let be.

To V, for showing me how far behind a person can leave their
well-protected, fortress backgrounds to care for their fellow human
beings.

To S, for showing me a life full of compassion and love for all, and
the unlimited extents one can go to and impossible things that one can
do when living such a life.

To R, for showing me how to celebrate differences in opinion and stay
friends with people despite disagreements.

To K, for showing me how superior bottom-up, organic growth in plans
is to top-down "intellectual" planning.

To S, for showing me that being a feminist does not mean being rough
and tough like a man; but rather to celebrate the feminine; to be
delicate, creative, colourful, embellishing, vulnerable, vivacious,
loving and caring.

To R and U, for showing me the powers of openness, generosity, friendship and good feelings for all, and how to age gracefully yet youthfully.

To the women of the villages, for the strength, the generosity, the
self-reliance, the kindness, the full-of-life laughter that you fill
the air with.

Thank you. Hope to keep meeting you again.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Need for opinion decentralization of a political movement

This is a part of a longer conversation, and is my personal feedback to AAP Pune city team on a matter of endorsing a call for stopping GM field trials. What's expressed here goes into deeper, more elemental matters that have bearing on a lot of other things. Of course, it's part of a larger conversation so there are many other angles in the matter as well.
----

If you still have concerns and still need even more precaution or a tempering down of the statement as a typical Agricultural College would want, then I'd say just forget about the whole thing. I believe that if the city level and state level AAP teams do not have this much autonomy and end up having their wings clipped using the excuse of being fully in sync with Delhi team, then AAP's really going to get reduced to toothlessness and high command culture. This much extent of precautionary behaviour is dangerous for the movement; we need to draw a line somewhere. Get bolder and take a call on something that might affect the well-being of your and my loved ones much before it affects the people sitting in Delhi. If you don't, then AAP doesn't have any legitimacy of people's representation in Pune or Maharashtra.

And after seeing the Supreme Court's verdict on Koondankulam and other such matters, I have decided that it's not in our best interests to defer to its judgements as a measure of what is right and what is wrong. So I disagree with that decision making mechanism too. These matters are "multi-layered", and the objective reference point we're looking for simply does not exist. We cannot escape the moral obligation of choosing what to believe in by just letting official verdicts make our decisions for us.

Monday, October 13, 2014

UK govt's officially declassified UFO files

To the skeptic in us all : At least keep yourself informed about the details of the "rumour" rather than staying in complete ignorance of it. Treat it as if it's a fantasy novel or movie series.. we don't think it scandalous to just know about the details of "Horcruxes", "Mordor" etc just because we know they're fictional, right? It wouldn't hurt just to get to know a few of the details of this subject, it might actually be quite entertaining. That's the approach I took when I came across this subject. Just because we don't believe in something doesn't mean we have to run away from knowing things about it : that's xenophobia. But then, be warned : once you get to know some of the details, the lines between reality and story might just start to blur ;)

Friday, October 10, 2014

Off season social media paid audiences

A lot of businesses in this sector that formed during the 2014 national Elections, are now reaching out during off-season!

Advertisement forwarded by a friend:
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It would be worth asking them for "portfolio" of their work :P

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

My cup of tea

I really need to get conscious and cautious about which cup of tea I'm taking.

Because I'm finding out that I have a much bigger negative reaction to the wrong cup of tea, than most others do.

One cannot blame those offering me the cup of tea... they are used to people who can get along with any cup. In fact, I'm feeling guilty at not being able to satisfactorily gulp down the cup of tea offered so genuinely and generously by people who have no idea of how badly I might react.. how blocked and unable to continue further I might get.

And yep, one can't fully blame the taker either : how am I supposed to know while taking the cup of tea that somewhere down the line it won't settle with me? Or I it? These myriad cups and teas are quite complicated.

Or maybe I need to make myself adapt better to the cups of tea that come my way.

Maybe I need to stop taking, or even checking out multiple cups at the same time.

Maybe while I'm busy drinking one cup, I should avoid getting distracted by the other cups of tea passing by, and focus on the one in hand.

And yet, I can't bring myself to settle on any one particular cup of tea yet. This one might work, but so might that one.

Maybe I need to spend some time without having any cup of tea.

Maybe I need to do all that I have suggested. And temper the extents as per the situation.

In case you're wondering what the heck this post is about, I'll give you a hint : It's not about tea.

Do you love reading your own writing too?

Is it just me, or do other bloggers also like to read and re-read the article they've just written and published? Do others also find something new between the lines in the piece they've only written?

A little self-love never killed anybody! :P

Infinite growth mentality applied to Bakri-Eid

The traditions of Bakri-Eid, like most traditions around the world involving animal-slaughter or hunting.. were for another time, when the population ratios were very different, when most of the people in question practiced animal husbandry as a primary or secondary occupation.

To do the exact same thing right now also, without any regulation, any rethinking or restraint, is wrong. There needs to be a much broader dialogue around this. I don't think either banning or not banning is a solution. A common understanding needs to be developed.

Closer to home, it was painful for me to one day pass a gated ground a few days before Eid, in the peth areas, where thousands of goats had been crammed in. I drove by there daily, so knew that this wasn't a regular place where goats are reared : this was a ground used for other purposes. It was a sea of helpless bleats. I'm opposed to this infinite-growth mentality applied to Bakri-Eid just the same as I'm opposed to the infinite-growth mentality applied to the meat industry. The Muslim community needs to start talking about this, needs to make some changes. Delaying that talk in the name of religion is only serving to demonize them even more in this already polarizing climate.

Are you sure you anger is directed at the true perpetrator of the crime?

Posted as a comment under several comments under a graphic on FB of a rape victim in Iran who was charged and hanged recently, instead of punishing her attacker. Link.
Due regrets and prayers for her. However, I see her case now being used as part of a grand buildup to justify war on Iran and Islam in general. So, here's my comment:

Similar to the buildup of demonization of Jews in the leadup to World War 2, there is an ongoing campaign around the world right now to demonize Islam. Have a problem? Muslims are the cause : remove them and then we'll all live happily. My ass. Needless to say, injustice is committed by brutal societies that use religions like the Fractional Reserve banking system, Capitalism, Communism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam etc to justify their brutality. (List written in decreasing order of atrocities committed or associated empirically, in modern history. And yes, they're ALL religions that justify themselves to be true based on their own books and theories and grossly warped understandings of reality) The current economic paradigm of infinite growth : the one we're bring distracted from, the one our governments are committed to, has been committing structural violence and slaughtering millions of people more than any backward Sharia court can. Acknowledge the badness of one, but please don't do it while ignoring the big fat elephant in the room. 

In Iran's case in particular, there is an ongoing campaign by the world's elite to invade and bomb the country, to reduce it to rubble, to keep the Dollar unchallenged as the world's primary currency and to keep the defaulting fractional banking system going through increased expenditures in war and reconstruction. Disaster creates economic growth, so let's create more disasters. Iran has never invaded any other country in all its modern history. USA has invaded practically everyone.

In any case, to all the people in this comments wall who are claiming at all of Islam is evil : I better not find YOU one day slaughtering innocents or supporting people who slaughter innocents. You know that little 3 year old in the Muslim slum community near your society? Guess what : She didn't murder Atefah. Neither did her parents or her neighbours. The Muslims of India didn't kill Atefah. The entire population of Iran also didn't murder Atefah. A few corrupt leaders did. The people of Iran are as guilty of having such leaders as we Indians are of having a country that has the highest number of criminals in Parliament; that sexually abuses 50% of its children (and guess what the majority of the abusers' religion is?), that has the largest number of malnourished children on the planet . It's true. If you want to call India a predominantly Hindu nation, then it means that Hinduism is the largest child-molester and the largest child-murderer in the world. And Hinduism specializes in female child murdering. 

Unless you choose to call the bluff and STOP associating every single thing with someone's religion. 

Which would mean that Hinduism doesn't murder women, and neither does Islam. 

Atefah isn't a victim of Islam; she's a victim of a corrupted judiciary and government that has hijacked Islam to make themselves all-powerful. If the people of India are not guilty for all of the atrocities happening in our country, because we don't have control over the matter, then the same rule applies universally. So, please watch yourselves : You had better not turn into the very monsters that you claim to be against.

Flaws of pushing free market system and neoliberal agenda everywhere


"One is that we really need to reform the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). I talk about that in my book. But right now, the World Bank has been behind a lot of these problems. It's almost like there's still a cold war going on between socialism and the free market system, and the World Bank and the IMF are acting as if they have to push this free market system everywhere and this neoliberal agenda everywhere or else socialism will take over. And it's a flawed way of looking at the world. Our macroeconomic system, their macroeconomic systems, are completely based on growth, but we can't grow the amount of water we have in the world. It's always going to be the same. So they have to pull back and start thinking in terms of the environment.

So what can the average person do? Well, I was thinking about how Europe, when they decided to create the Eurozone, there was something called a European Citizens' Initiative set up that basically said, "Look, the Eurozone is not going to be democratic in the way we're used to, so we want to be able to petition the European commission to make changes that we want." So now, if they get a million signatures, the European commission has to consider what they want. The first one was on water. But I think we need something like that with the World Bank and the IMF because right now, they're completely controlled by money. Whoever has the most money in the world controls them, and it's not democratic. We need a more democratic system."

Monday, October 6, 2014

MH elections: past parties of BJP candidates

So is this how BJP plans on making Congress-mukt Maharashtra :
(copying from a whatsapp fwd)

भाजपाचे उमेदवार झालेले इतर पक्षीय (कंसात त्यांच्या जुन्या पक्षाचे नाव)

१. नंदुरबार - विजयकुमार गावीत (राष्ट्रवादी)
२. धुळे- अनिल गोटे (शे.सं)
३. भुसावळ - संजय सावकारे (राष्ट्रवादी)
४. अमरावती - सुनील देशमुख (काँग्रेस)
५. हिंगणा- समीर मेघे (काँग्रेस)
६. भोकर - माधवराव किन्हाळकर (काँग्रेस)
७. परभणी - आनंद भरोसे (काँग्रेस)
८. औरंगाबाद मध्य - किशनचंद तनवाणी (शिवसेना)
९. गंगापूर - प्रशांत बंब (अपक्ष)
१०. सिन्नर - माणिकराव कोकाटे (काँग्रेस-राणे समर्थक)
११.मुरबाड - किसनराव कथोरे (राष्ट्रवादी)
१२. बेलापूर - मंदा म्हात्रे (राष्ट्रवादी)
१३. घाटकोपर (प.) - राम कदम (मनसे) - विधिमंडळ आवारात पोलीसला मारहाण
१४. पनवेल - प्रशांत ठाकूर-(काँग्रेस)- राहुल गांधींचे विश्वासू १५. चिंचवड - लक्ष्मण जगताप (राष्ट्रवादी)
१६. श्रीगोंदा - बबनराव पाचपुते (राष्ट्रवादी) - खडसेसाहेबांनी विधानसभेत तुफान टीका केलेले
१७. शिराळा- शिवाजीराव नाईक (काँग्रेस)
१८. तासगाव - अजित घोरपडे (काँग्रेस)
१९. पुरंदर - संगीता राजे निंबाळकर (मनसे)
२०. नांदेड दक्षिण - दिलीप कंदकुर्ते
२१. बुलढाणा- योगेंद्र गोडे (राष्ट्रवादी)
२२.दौंड -राहुल कुल -रासप (राष्ट्रवादी)
२३.सावंतवाडी - राजन तेली (काँग्रेस)
२४. उस्मानाबाद- संजय दुधगावकर (काँग्रेस)
२५. लातूर- शैलेश लाहोटी (काँग्रेस)
२६. कंधार - प्रताप चिखलीकर (राष्ट्रवादी)
२७. कन्नड - संजय गव्हाणे (समता परिषद)
२८. कोपरगाव-स्नेहलता कोल्हे (राष्ट्रवादी)
२९. पारनेर-बाबासाहेब तांबे (शिवसेना)
३०. राहुरी-शिवाजी कर्डिले
(राष्ट्रवादी)
३१. राहाता -राजेंद्र पिपाडा (राष्ट्रवादी)
३२. नेवासा-बाळासाहेब मुरकुटे (कॉंग्रेस)
३३. आष्टी - भीमराव धोंडे (राष्ट्रवादी)
३४. पाथर्डी- मोनिका राजळे (राष्ट्रवादी)
३५. चोपडा - जगदीश वळवी (राष्ट्रवादी)
३६. धुळे ग्रामीण - मनोहर बडने (काँग्रेस)
३७. नांदगाव- अद्वय हिरे (राष्ट्रवादी)
३८. जालना- अरविंद चव्हाण (राष्ट्रवादी)
३९. ??? - विनायक मेटे (शिवसंग्रामचे उमेदवार, कट्टर भाजप विचाराचे !)
४०. पैठण - विनायक हिवाळे (शिवसेना)
४१. श्रीरामपूर - भाऊसाहेब वाकचौरे (काँग्रेस)
४२. कोपरगाव- स्नेहलता कोल्हे (राष्ट्रवादी)
४३. घनसावंगी - विलासराव खरात (काँग्रेस)
४४. कोल्हापूर (द.)- अमोल महाडिक (काँग्रेस)
४५. नेवासा - बाळासाहेब मुरकुटे (काँग्रेस)
४६. अहमदनगर - अभय आगरकर (भाजप, नंतर राष्ट्रवादी)
४७. निफाड- भगवान बोरस्ते (शिवसेना)
४८. भोर- शरद ढमाले (शिवसेना)
४९. जुन्नर - नेताजी डोके (शिवसेना)
५०. खेड - जयसिंह एरंडे (शिवसेना)

Saturday, October 4, 2014

7 deadly sins

Gandhi's 7 Deadly Sins
  1. Wealth without work
  2. Pleasure without conscience
  3. Science without humanity
  4. Knowledge without character
  5. Politics without principle
  6. Commerce without morality
  7. Worship without sacrifice.

1. Mutual funds, investments, share trading, real estate speculation, dowry
2. Game Shows, Reality TV, item songs & objectifiation of women
3. GMOs, fertilizers, pesticides
4. NSA and similar spying on citizenry
5. Using Kashmir flood emergency to justify AFSPA and colonial treatment; branding all dissent as Maoists; etc etc
6. GDP Growth through violated Environmental and Labour norms; Paid News
7. Bhaktjano...

Time to think beyond UGC approval

This article started as a reply to : As Delhi High Court Tightens The Rope Around IIPM, Will Fake Universities Take A Hit?

There is an unexamined assumption, and with that, a flawed perception here. Bad as IIPM may be, I think the rationale being used is barking up the wrong tree. How can we assume that any university that has not been officially certified by a centralized standardization agency (which itself is not clear of flaws).. is Fake? Whatever happened to the third bastion of the Autonomous institution : independent in choosing what discourse it gives to those coming to it?
Who gave any UGC or its compliant colleges the right to claim that they alone can define what it means to be an MBA in India, or any academic achievement for that matter? Especially glaring on the author's part here is the missing out of that inconvenient little detail that the best ranked institutions in the world that were referred to in the article, do not obey any centralized agency's diktats; they are autonomous, and they are successful precisely because they are autonomous, precisely because they can design their pedadgogy and everything related on their own. All (or most! Enlighten me if I'm wrong) of the best colleges in the world don't depend on any "UGC" for their legitimacy. Their programmes and their alumni create their legitimacy. Word of mouth, reputation emerging from the success of alumni and proof in the pudding hold higher value on the international higher education scene than any centralized government agency's stamp of approval. 

In light of such a global reality, our attack on IIPM without even bothering to examine and compare their actual programmes with those of the hundreds of pathetic colleges that the UGC has given its stamp of approval to, smacks of hypocrisy.
Forget about IIPM themselves : I have no clue about their actual programmes and if they're just empty pretenders and really lying through their noses to rip off students, then so be their fate. But I would prefer to see that fate decided by the inevitable consequence of alumni and walkouts spilling the beans, rather than a questionable governing agency's stamp of disapproval.

Learning is universal. The UGC does not hold monopoly over how learning, especially higher education, happens. How will we now treat the many emerging educational experiments that are trying to give a fundamentally different kind of higher education to the youth entering their gates? If an autonomous institution imparting valuable education to the youth coming to it, is not even trying to win any UGC's stamp of approval, will we then ruthlessly attack them also as being FAKE? Will be label them also as F.A.L.T.U ? (if you haven't seen the movie then please do) Will we blame them for failing to "win" a recognition that they have never even bothered trying to win? I am especially alarmed by the apparent assertion of this article that any institution to emerge in the future which is not ratified by UGC, is automatically going to be Fake.

This nation's history reminds us of a rich moment of this sort. Around 1920, heeding a nationwide call from Gandhi, several intellectuals and students all over the country walked out of the British-certified institutions and started autonomous independent colleges, like the famous Gujrat Vidyapith in Ahmedabad. They started teaching without bothering to beg for anybody's stamp of approval, taking the discourse in their own hands. And they taught better, fundamentally better, than the mainstream colleges of that time. They nurtured and shaped many of the minds who would go on to co-create an Independent India. Today they may be acknowledged by our governments, but back then they were precisely the "Fake" institutions we're being warned against. What if they too had been chastised with the ferocity being leveled at "unapproved" institutions today?

Look at the higher education scenario in India today. Most of our graduates come out not only learning nothing of value to prospective employers; their ordeal renders them incapable of even the most basic entrepreneurship. And citizenry? Forget it! If you're worried that an IIPM operating without UGC approval will fleece students, then look around you : there are scores of colleges peppered across the country happily fleecing the youth of this country with full UGC approval! The UGC and bodies like it have royally screwed up higher education in India. To continue valuing its holy stamp of approval over and above facts on the ground, is only going to take the Indian education sector ever lower down the tube. 

But a breaking down of traditonal barriers by increasing internet penetration, combined with a realisation among scores of employers that the official degree is simply not giving them the talent they're searching for, is creating a ripe moment for another 1920s-style walking away from traditionally certified structures and blossoming of new ones in the most unexpected of places, that fundamentally rethink the way education is defined and delivered in the 21st century. Perhaps it's really time to think beyond the UGC, time to look again at the "Fake" institutions so our youth can have a Real education.

Friday, October 3, 2014

What Facebook is doing

Facebook is doing things far worse than just plastering ads all over our facebook browsing sessions.

Pages and users who regularly share posts that challenge the mainstream media and the status quo, who share what could turn out upon sincere investigation to be  inconvenient truths that implicate many major world leaders and corporate elites in crimes against society, are being censored and suppressed without being informed at first, and then getting "community guidelines violation" warnings for politically inconvenient posts. Many pages have been shut down already. Many of the people who have "Liked" these pages, don't see any updates from them if Facebook's internal algorithms decide that the person hasn't commented or liked any of their posts in a certain period of time. After doing that, Facebook has been found telling the page admins that they can PAY-to-SHARE, to have their posts displayed on the general feeds of the people who are already subscribed to them.

This is the equivalent of Gmail informing you that the email you just sent to your friends.. won't show up in their inboxes unless you pay Gmail some money.
There are also internal censoring mechanisms that are preventing people from sharing links to sites that have content questioning the status quo. These are bracketed in the same category as pornography etc.

So, Facebook is quickly becoming a thought police for the dominant status quo of the world. It is preventing the free and open exchange of ideas.

Facebook censorship : proof from a popular page's admins of how so many of their posts are being blocked or prevented from being read by their fans.

The fussy old man

And he said...
...and he said...

  • There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.


  • ...and he said...

  • Satyagraha does not begin and end with civil disobedience.


  • ...and he said...

  • My notion of democracy is that under it, the weakest should have the same opportunity as the strongest.


  • ...and he said...

  • To me I seem to be constantly growing. I must respond to varying conditions, yet remain changeless within.


  • ...and he said...

  • True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men at the center. It has to be worked by the people of every village.


  • ...and he said...

  • What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism, or the holy name of liberty and democracy?


  • ...and he said...

  • We are constantly being astonished at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.


  • ...and he said...

  • There is more to life than simply increasing its speed.


  • ...and he said...

  • Today the cities dominate and drain the villages so that they are crumbling to ruins. Exploiting of villages is itself organized violence. If we want freedom to build on non-violence, we will have to give villages their proper place.


  • ...and he said...

  • As soon as we lose the moral-basis, we cease to be religious.


  • ...and he said...

  • The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.


  • ...and he said...

  • The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problem.


  • ...and he said...

  • It may be long before the law of love will be recognized in international affairs. The machineries of government stand between and hide the hearts of one people from those of another.


  • ...and he said...

  • First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.


  • ...and he said... (my favourite :0)

  • Whatever you do will become insignificant, but it is very important to do it.


  • ... such was that fussy old man who changed the destiny of an Empire with a fistful of salt!!

    (cross-posting from a shared post on FB.. I don't know the poster)

    Wednesday, October 1, 2014

    Interesting links for September 2014

    Ten Grassroots Environmental Justice Campaigns from Around the World

    Putting powerpoint presentation online with audio narration:
    AuthorStream : www.authorstream.com
    Example:

    In The Tragedy of the Private | The Potential of the Public, a new booklet co-published by Public Services International and the Transnational Institute, Hilary Wainwright argues that now is the time to turn back the tide of public services privatization.
    ...
    The booklet's title inverts the phrase, "the tragedy of the commons," the economic theory predicting the failure of group resources management due to conflict between individual self-interest and the common good.
    Direct link:

    Excerpt:
    "'Tragedy of the private' : We use this phrase to highlight the fundamentally inappropriate application of he logic of private business, based on maximising profits, to the management of shared resources, natural and social, and the meeting of social needs. The phrase turns on its head 'the tragedy of the commons', which was an attack on the idea that people can effectively manage common resources together for shared benefit, if they have suitable conditions. The tragedy of the anti-commons, and in particular of the private, arises from the presumption that people act only in their immediate self-interest (rather than taking account of mutual benefit and interdependence) and do not communicate, let alone collaborate, over shared problems."


    openfarm.cc : Wikipedia for farming and gardening

    ASHA has initiated a web portal in collaboration with a German organisation (Welt Hunger HIlfe), Pravah and FFID, to help smoothen information flows that allow for organic procurers to get information on stocks available with organic producers around the country. The objective is to help organic producers find better and more marketing avenues. The website is: www.ecofarmersmarket.in. The actual trade deals happen outside the portal, and this is a platform for information flows.

    You're invited to join our panel of experts, researchers and activists in an inspirational GMO Mini-Summit. The first wave of the Summit featured broadcasts of potent presentations from inspiring experts, and took place October 25-27. The second wave of the Summit is a series of broadcasts made available each Sunday, as well as an ongoing collection of resources to help you get informed and take action.
    This is a virtual program you can enjoy at no cost from the comfort and convenience of your own home. If you want to know the TRUTH about GMOs and the risks Monsanto, the government, their paid advisors and the media are deliberately hiding from you, then join in this unique, free summit.

    how a teen activist won a TV debate on the GMO issue:


    if you don't fit in, if you feel at odds with the world, if your identity is troubled and frayed, if you feel lost and ashamed - it could be because you have retained the human values you were supposed to have discarded. You are a deviant. Be proud.


    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a three part answer to a question on Teachers' Day about combating climate change. In one part he said, 'Climate change has not occurred. People have changed.' Just before that he had given the example of old people complaining about the winter turning harsher each successive year. It's just people losing tolerance for cold as they age, he explained. In the third part of his answer, just after he came across as the first climate skeptic Prime Minister of India, Modi said the real problem is people have lost old values, picked up bad habits and therefore harmed environment. He said people are acting against nature and that has upset the balance. We must love nature again, he concluded.

    Structuring our beloved communities


    Vermicompost project in slum area creates earnings for residents while taking care of organic waste


    Norway : no national debt, budget surpluses. Through high corporate taxation and high taxation of oil industry revenues.

    Student in Kerala who has been periodically involved with human rights protests, arrested by police at midnight, for sitting while national anthem was played, and slapped with charges of sedition for a FB post. 

    1 hour movie that blows the lid on GM Food

    online payments platform

    The United States' official policy in the Middle East is now perpetual war.

    US: A new & inventive way to stop the authorities from taking your land : install artwork on it and copyright it

    This horrifying account from the Central African Republic of Christian-Muslim clashes going out of control bears a stark reminder of what happened in India too during Partition, and what can easily come about again if people keep on looking at those practicing other forms of religion as others
    At the same time, the article is insufficient in explaining the background behind the situation. It mentions diamond but doesn't go into Blood diamond. Who is funding the rebels? Who is supplying the weapons?

    Exposing The Hypocrisy Of Modi Government On Environmental Issues


    Structural analysis



    66% of the people in India's jails haven't been convicted.


    On teachers day 2014, schools across the country were made to compulsorily make students watch or hear on radio the PM's live broadcast, beyond school hours. Attendances were forwarded to HRD ministry, for punitive action against teachers and students who dared to skip the event.
    ---
    another view on the matter, a more positive one. and I refreshingly find myself agreeing with it as well! http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2014/09/narendra-modi-teachers-day-appreciated/ 


    Lessons From the Garden - With Kimberly Carter Gamble


    Lots of good solutions and doable actions listed that can be applied anywhere.

    CDC Whistle-Blower Reveals Cover-up Of Vaccine & Autism Link Data

    Nodal agency for disaster management is leaderless since its vice chairman M. Shashidhar Reddy and five others resigned. The main agency that should be working on J&K's flood situation is completely missing from the scene.

    9/11 footage of WTC 7 controlled demolition

    Satyamev Jayate - Mumkin hai (short stories of impact and change)

    Vaccines:

    CDC Whistle-Blower Reveals Cover-up Of Vaccine & Autism Link Data

    A large youtube playlist with testimonials of parents whose children have suffered after vaccination.
    These videos seem to have been uploaded this month only.. 
    There's a wealth of information here on immediate post-vaccination symptoms and drastic changes in child's actions and behaviour.

    Graphic on facebook.. transripting it..
    Why did the US govt invent and patent
    Ebola : Patent number #CA2741523A1
    Swine Flu : #8124101
    AIDS cure: #5676977
    Cancer cure: #6630507
    Seems like they are trying to cause an epidemic, making us ill, then keeping us sick...


    Photo album on Facebook, pictures and graphics about chemtrails, cancer, monsanto etc

    Explaining Dharnai's micro-grid tariff structure and the democratic structures formed for decision making.

    Solar Wind Tower Could Rival Hoover Dam in Power Output - See more at: http://www.greenbuildermedia.com/news/blog/news/solar-wind-tower-electric-power-generation


    Budget India Facts NFI

    CEE article from 2009: Several public schools in Medak district in Andhra Pradesh have incorporated food growing into their curriculum and are growing fresh fruits, vegetables etc on their premises with the students' and local farmers' involvement.

    "the real, central journey of my life-and I think this probably shows in the way that I live .. has been trying to figure out how to live well. Trying to figure out how to not succumb to darkness. Trying to figure out how to be a better friend to people. Trying to figure out how to find destiny and live it in a way that feels bold and important."

    It's the costs, stupid. Therefore, opt for renewables!
    Silvia Brugger explains why the EU should opt for a much more ambitious program: Renewables are cheaper and reduce Europe's foreign energy dependence.

    German grid more stable in 2013
    It's bad news for the folks insisting that renewables are wreaking havoc on the grid - last year, the average number of minutes of power outages in Germany fell below the already leading level of 2012 and below the average over the past seven years.

    Satyamev Jayate Mumkin Hai series


    50 reasons to not vaccinate

    As World's Largest Dam Removal is Completed, Fish Already Returning
    "It goes against my deepest notions of how fast ecosystem recovery can possibly happen," Christopher Tonra, a research fellow with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center in Washington, D.C., told the Seattle Times. Tonra is studying how the dam removal affects numbers of native birds, which have already appeared to benefit by the return of salmon, whose eggs they eat. "We are all trained, as biologists, to think of things over the long run. I am not saying the Elwha is fully recovered. But it is so mind blowing to me, the numbers of fish, and seeing the birds respond immediately to the salmon being there. It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."

    Delivering justice from docket explosion
    an astounding 3.14 crore cases pending before the courts at various levels... then Delhi High Court Chief Justice A P Shah said it will take 466 years to dispose of all the criminal cases pending before the Delhi High Court if the present rate of disposal continues.


    Over 3 lakh people converged on the streets of New York on 21/9/14 for the People's Climate March. Thousands converged on streets in cities around the world. 

    Lots of news and speculation articles about fringe topics. Awesome for conspiracy buffs. I love his signoff quote : "see you on the flip side"

    Argentina Cancer Deaths Well Above the National Average in Heavily GMO-Planted Areas
    "Argentinean farmers have increased their levels of herbicide spraying of crops, and the results don't look good. A huge increase in cancer incidence is being reported in Argentina linked directly to areas of heavy GMO crop engineering and high biotech herbicide use.


    Water as fuel
     
     
     Ways to eliminate / reduce radioactivity of nuclear waste and accidents
     
     
     
     All the things we do to kids that makes boredom a fact of life : something that was completely alien some years ago.
     
    "The true threats to the climate and India's environment arise from resource grabbing, unequal resource use and expropriation by corporates and elites. These are not being addressed at all, and instead such sham programs - whose benefits are grossly exaggerated and almost impossible to actually calculate - are being proposed as an eyewash. The Green India Mission is likely only to result in conflict, resistance, impoverishment and displacement, while itself causing environmental damage."



    Pune: Air civic issues on WhatsApp for quick action. Sep 23, 2014


    Sourabh Phadke's ecosan dry composting toilet design.
    USP: urine mixed with wash water directly goes into banana plant; no collection, stinking etc.
    There is a pipe/chimney at the side which diverts any odour up and out.
    The two pits are facing each other with the pee hole in between. Rather than side by side. > Space conservation.
    "The Sendriya Shouchalaya: A Urine-diversion Dehydration Toilet experience from Kuran village, Maharashtra, India", is a photo-essay, describing the setting up and operation of an eco-san toilet in a remote village in Maharastra. The toilet was set up by Sourabh Phadke, an architect from Pune, in collaboration with the owners, Bhau and Kadubai.


    Nagaland : indegenous machine that takes in water from uphill streams via a pipe, and runs it through a dynamo. Compact machine. No change to the water; after passing the hydroger it gets used in the field, household etc.


    The woman who turned down Modi's offer of 1 crore compensation after the martyrdom of her husband Hemant Karkare on the grounds that the entire Hindutva brigade from Modi to Bal Thackeray had raved and ranted against ATS chief Karkare because he was also investigating the role of Hindu terrorists in Malegaon and other places.


    Putting all the puzzle pieces together of what's happening in the world right now.


    Explaining the workings of the two main mobile network technologies (GSM and CDMA), their differences, strengths and limitations.
    One inference from here is that GSM networks cannot work in hgh population density areas where number of active cell phone users starts crossing a treshold. I wrote about this here: 

    Facebook censorship : proof from a popular page's admins of how so many of their posts are being blocked or prevented from being read by their fans.



    198 methods of nonviolent action

    Book: The Creature from Jekyll Island : about the Federal Reserve


    A pump that runs without electricity

    Gift Economy

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