Neo Nazies Swarm the GLOBE! After the Encounter Now Uttar Pradesh Migrant Lynched in Mubai!India Inc May Lay Off 25% Jobs in 10 Days. Why North is So Hated in Maharashtra and Elsewhere? No Fuel Price Cut for Now! Resurgence of Nazism and PURE Blood adovocates, supported by Hindutva and Zionist Black hatred may kill the lofty Dream of martin Luther King even if US white system is honest enough to protect the life of Barrack Hussein Obama!RBI relaxes forex derivatives accounting norms!Asia Pacific at greater risk amid global economic slowdown!
Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 96
Palash Biswas
Court orders brain mapping, polygraph tests on Malegaon blast accused
Press Trust of India - ? 3 hours ago ?
Fresh Ne...Nashik, Oct 29 (PTI) A court here today ordered brain-mapping, narco and polygraphy tests of the two retired army officers arrested in connection with Malegaon bomb blast after it was told by the police that one of them was in touch with sadhvi Pragya ...
Upadhyay, Kulkarni remanded to police custody till Nov 10 NDTV.com
Ex-armyman arrested in Malegaon blast case Times of India
'Ignore The Polls'
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=xvRmgO60yyc
After the fake Encounter now the Uttar Pradesh Migrant is Lynched in Mumbai. Global ruling Class seems to be in Hurry to Disintegrate Indian nation once again!
Government railway police have registered a case of rioting and murder against 10 to 12 unknown people a day after a 25-year-old labourer from Uttar Pradesh was lynched on a Mumbai local train. This is the result of Globalisation! This is the FACE REAL of HINDUTVA so patriot and so National! Hindu superpower India, on the other hand,may become a major player in the emerging small satellite manufacturing industry. The country’s space agency has estimated a market potential of 50 satellites over the next decade, worth around $1.5 billion, says a space official.Keeping this in mind, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has already formed a special team to manufacture small satellites.As global leaders engage themselves to grapple with the worst economic crisis since 1929, WTO chief Pascal Lamy wants India, among other e merging economies, on board for a new financial world order.
Over 100 children were on Wednesday taken hostage by militants in Pakistan's troubled northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan. A group of 10 to 12 militants entered a state-run school in Darwaz Gai area of Mohmand tribal agency after a gun battle with security forces and took over the premises. Some 100 children were inside the school, TV channels reported.
The incident shows the Inhuminity as More than 160 people were killed, scores injured and around 15,000 left homeless as a powerful earthquake jolted southwestern Pakistan ear ly today destroying hundreds of mud houses and sending people scurrying onto the streets in panic! The death toll could mount as Dilawar Kakker, mayor of Ziarat warned as he said that hundreds more were buried under the rubble as the quake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale triggered landslides and rockfalls on the houses catching the people as they were asleep.
"As policy makers go about creating multilateral architecture in areas like international finance...no international agreement on finance or climate change is possible today without China, India, Brazil and Indonesia on board...," Lamy said in a speech posted on the WTO website.
While Europe and North America face an economic slowdown, the emerging economies of Brazil, India, Mexico, China, Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa continue to grow, in large measure because of trade, he said at Stanford University on Monday.
The fast growing economies are of special interest to the US where exports are contributing significantly to GDP growth. On an annualised basis, the second quarter export growth and slowing imports were responsible for the US' GDP growth of 2.9 per cent.
meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India said it will conduct a special 14-day repo auction for Rs 11050 crores ($2.2 billion) on Wednesday.
The reversal of Wednesday's auction will take place on November 12, it said in a statement. The auction was introduced on October 14, and is being held every day until an allocated 200 billion rupees has been used. ($1= 48.8 rupees)
Obama would be the first black president in U.S. history if he defeats Republican John McCain in the November 4 election. Concerns about Obama's safety led the Secret Service to provide round-the-clock protection from early in his campaign.About six percent of US voters are still undecided in the final sprint of the White House race, boosting Republican John McCain hopes he may yet pull off a last-minute election day upset.Obama had a lead of 50.4 to 43.1 percent over McCain in RealClearPolitics' weekly average of polling data as of October 26 -- with 6.5 percent still uncommitted.But the gap had tightened to 50.3 to 44.1 percent by October 27, with undecided numbers down to 5.5 percent.Last minute deciders can influence the outcome most of all in toss-up states, where the race is tight.
The Undecided Voters are mostly white as well as Racial! Resurgence of Nazism and PURE Blood adovocates, supported by Hindutva and Zionist Black hatred may kill the lofty Dream of martin Luther King even if US white system is honest enough to protect the life of Barrack Hussein Obama!Those indecisive Americans are being fervently wooed by both parties in the final days of a two-year White House battle. What if a Gallup poll released Tuesday, Oct. 28, reveals that around the world, Obama is the preferred candidate for President of the United States! While 27 percent of global respondents support the Democratic candidate for president, only 7 percent said they support the Republican candidate McCain.Barak Obama seems to be especially popular in the the ancient fishing village of Obama, Japan. Japanese 'Obama Girls' shout "Yes we can!" during a rally to support Barack Obama.
The Zionists, White Racists and the Hindutva injected life by Neo Nazies won`t allow any CHANGE still in so much demand!Contradictorily, though the citizens of France, India, Germany and Georgia (the country) cannot vote in the U.S. presidential election, a new Gallup poll shows how they would vote if they could. If the world could vote for the U.S. president, Obama would win by a landslide--though turnout would be quite low. The enslaved balck Untouchable and Indigenous communities worldwide supports Martin Luther King as well as Barrack Hussein Obama!
The American Neo -Nazi movement started in the streets in the middle 1980's, in the U.S. The movement is an act to keep alive the beliefs and actions of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Regime. Believers and activist in the movement are known as Skinhead, or "Skins." Some are dresses like a lot like the original British movement, which was started by some rough looking teenagers in combat boots hanging out on the streets. The average Skinhead, wears combat boots or Doc Martens, thin red suspenders, and a bomber jacket. The hair is completely shaven or closely cut to the head. The Skins wear many symbols supporting the movement, such as, swastikas supremacy slogans, and other white power emblems or tattoos. Neo-Nazis believe that to be white is to be right. That the Aryan race, the whites, are the pure race and that there should be no other ethnic groups or races. Homosexuals, Jews, Hispanics and Afro-Americans are the main targets for this organization. But there are others. Any minority......
Ethnic nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ethnic nationalism is a form of nationalism wherein the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity. Whatever specific ethnicity is involved, ethnic nationalism always includes some element of descent from previous generations. It also includes ideas of a culture shared between members of the group, and with their ancestors, and usually a shared language; however it is different from purely cultural definitions of "the nation" (which allow people to become members of a nation by cultural assimilation) and a purely linguistic definitions (which see "the nation" as all speakers of a specific language).
The central political tenet of ethnic nationalism is that each ethnic group on earth is entitled to self-determination. The outcome of this right to self-determination may vary, from calls for self-regulated administrative bodies within an already-established society, to an autonomous entity separate from that society, to a sovereign state removed from that society. In international relations, it also leads to policies and movements for irredentism — to claim a common nation based upon ethnicity.
In scholarly literature, ethnic nationalism is usually contrasted with civic nationalism. Ethnic nationalism bases membership of the nation on descent or heredity - often articulated in terms of common blood or kinship - rather than on political membership. Hence, nation-states with strong traditions of ethnic nationalism tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus sanguinis (the law of blood - i.e. descent from a person of that nationality) while countries with strong traditions of civic nationalism tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus soli (the law of soil - i.e. birth within the nation-state). Ethnic nationalism is therefore seen as exclusive, while civic nationalism tends to be inclusive. Rather than allegiance to common civic ideals, then, ethnic nationalism tends to emphasise shared narratives and common culture. For example, Germany is often cited as an example of ethnic nationalism; German citizenship is open to "ethnic Germans" (e.g. descendents of Germans living in the former Soviet Union).
The theorist Anthony D. Smith uses the term 'ethnic nationalism' for non-Western concepts of nationalism as opposed to Western views of a nation defined by its geographical territory. Diaspora studies scholars extend this non-geographically bound concept of "nation" among diasporic communities, at times using the term ethnonation or ethnonationalism to describe a conceptual collective of dispersed ethnics.[1]
A nation-state for the ethnic group derives political legitimacy from its status as homeland of that ethnic group, from its protective function against colonization, persecution or racism, and from its claim to facilitate the shared cultural and social life, which may not have been possible under the ethnic group's previous status as an ethnic minority.
Ethnic nationalism has sustained criticism because of its use by extremists to advocate racist agendas and genocide, such as the case of Nazi Germany and its extermination of millions of Jews and other ethnic and cultural groups during the Holocaust. More recent acts of violence that used ethnic nationalism as a justification include ethnic cleansing such as the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, and Operation Storm in Croatia in 1995.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_nationalism
White nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
White nationalism is a political ideology which advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of national identity for white people, in opposition to multiculturalism. The contemporary white nationalist movement in the United States is a reaction to the decline (based on US census projections) in white demographics, politics and culture.[1] According to Samuel Francis, a key white nationalist writer, it is "a movement that rejects equality as an ideal and insists on an enduring core of human nature transmitted by heredity."[2] Anti-racist organizations generally have argued that ideas such as white pride and white nationalism exist merely to provide a sanitized public face for white supremacy.[3]
The goal of white nationalism is to appeal to a larger audience. Most are nonviolent groups working for separatism.[4]
Supporters see themselves defending the legitimate civil rights of white people against society's alleged racial double standards.[5] Jared Taylor, another key writer in the movement, claims similar racial views were held by many mainstream American leaders before the 1950s.[6] Opponents accuse them of hatred, racial bigotry and destructive identity politics.[1][7]
According to Samuel P. Huntington, the modern movement is increasingly cultured, intellectual and academically trained.[8] Rather than espouse violence, they use statistics and social science data to argue for a self-conscious white identity.[9] They say a natural hierarchy should triumph over the "false promise of egalitarianism"[10] and that the downfall of white dominance spells doom for representative government, the rule of law and freedom of speech.[11]
Supporters say they stand for racial self-preservation and claim culture itself is a product of race.[12] As a result, according to Huntington, they say the demographic shift in the US towards non-whites brings a new culture that is intellectually and morally inferior.[13] With it comes affirmative action, immigrant ghettos and declining educational standards.[14] By challenging established policy on immigration, civil rights and racial integration, they seek to build bridges with moderately conservative white citizens.[15]
White separatism and supremacism are two smaller subgroups within white nationalism.[5] The former seek a separate white nation-state, while the latter add ideas from social Darwinism and Nazism to their ideology.[5] Some white nationalists deny they are in either category.[5] Both schools of thought generally avoid the term "supremacy", saying it has negative connotations.[16]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nationalism
Black nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Black nationalism (BN) advocates a racial definition (or redefinition) of black national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different black nationalist philosophies but the principles of all black nationalist ideologies are 1) black pride, and 2) black economic, political, social and/or cultural independence from white society. Marcus Garvey is considered to be the grandfather of black nationalism.
The origins of black nationalism lie in the 19th century with people like Henry McNeal Turner, Martin Delany, Henry Highland Garnet, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Paul Cuffe, etc. The repatriation of black American slaves to Liberia or Sierra Leone was a common black nationalist theme in the 19th century. Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association of the 1910s and 1920s was the most powerful black nationalist movement to date, claiming 11 million members. Although the future of Africa is seen as being central to black nationalist ambitions, some adherents to black nationalism are intent on the eventual creation of a separate black American nation in the U.S. or Western hemisphere.
According to Wilson Jeremiah Moses in his famous work Classical Black Nationalism, black nationalism as a philosophy can be examined from three different periods giving rise to various ideological perspectives for what we can today consider what black nationalism really is.
The first being pre-Classical black nationalism beginning from the time the Africans were brought ashore in the Americas to the Revolutionary period. After the Revolutionary War, a sizable number of Africans in the colonies, particularly in New England and Pennsylvania, were literate and had become disgusted with their social conditions that had spawned from Enlightenment ideas. We find in such historical personalities as Prince Hall, Richard Allen, and Absalom Jones a need to found certain organizations as the Free African Society, African Masonic lodges and Church Institutions. These institutions would serve as early foundations to developing independent and separate organizations. By the time of Post-Reconstruction Era a new form of black nationalism was emerging among various African-American clergy circles. Separate circles had already been established and were accepted by African-Americans because of the overt oppression that had been in existence since the inception of the United States. This phenomenon led to the birth of modern black nationalism which stressed the need to separate and build separate communities that promote strong racial pride and also to collectivize resources. This ideology had become the philosophy of groups like the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam and the latter Nation of Gods and Earths. Although, the Sixties brought on a heightened period of religious, cultural and political nationalism, black nationalism would later influence afrocentricity .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_nationalism
Asia Pacific region is at a greater risk now as concerns have now shifted from financial failure to worries about global economic slowdown
and with it the region will be hardest hit as exports are a major contributor to the regional output, say a latest Moody report.
"The Asia-Pacific region has escaped relatively unscathed from the financial effects of the credit crisis. But the region will not remain immune from its economic effects," Moody's Economy.Com, a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation said in its latest report.
Impact of the global economic slowdown would be so much that a major slowdown in Asian exports is on the cards later this year and in early 2009, the report added.
"The greatest risk to Asia is not a financial crisis but an economic slowdown, considering that exports are such a major contributor to regional output," Moody's Economy.Com Senior Economist Daniel Melser said.
The recent tumble in global equity markets illustrates that the global credit crisis is entering a new phase, Moody's Economy.Com said adding that concerns about financial failure are starting to ease, but worries about prospects for growth are mushrooming.
How the Ruling Hegemony creats Neo nazies promoting Blind Nationalism!
ISRO will launch two such satellites in 2009 and 2010, both having overseas payloads!
The earth orbit of India's first lunar spacecraft will be raised to 267,000 km on Wednesday, an official here said.
"The Chandrayaan spacecraft, orbiting at a distance of around 165,000 km apogee (farthest point from earth) will be raised Wednesday to around 267,000 km. As of now, everything is normal and as per our expectations," Chandrayaan-1 project director M. Annadurai said.
The third orbit-raising was done Oct 26 and the spacecraft was raised up to 164,600 km, instead of 199,277 km apogee as originally announced by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
"The important date for us is Nov 3 when the final orbit manoeuvre will happen. Between Oct 22 and Nov 3 we have the leeway to carry out the orbit raising activity," he said.
On Nov 3, the ISRO will take the spacecraft to 384,000 km apogee.
The subsequent firing of spacecraft motors will take it near the lunar orbit and it is expected to get into lunar orbit Nov 8.
The fact remains the same! Despite the Scientific and Technical gimmicks , Indian geopolitics stills remains a homeland of SNAKES!
Neo nazies swarm the GLOBE. Not only the ZIONIST, not only the HINDUTVA, all forces of DARKNESS create complete Dark Moon for the survival of Human Civilisation on this planet.Reckless borrowing against Earth's exhausted bounty is driving the planet toward an ecological "credit crunch", the World Wildlife Fund warned on Wednesday. Growing demands on natural capital - such as forests, water, soil, air and biodiversity - already outstrip the world's capacity to renew these resources by a third, according to the WWF's Living Planet Report.
Two white supremacist skinheads were arrested in Tennessee over plans to go on a killing spree and eventually shoot Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, court documents showed on Monday.Daniel Cowart and Paul Schlesselman were charged in a criminal complaint with making threats against a presidential candidate, illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun and conspiracy to rob a gun dealer.The plot did not appear to be very advanced or sophisticated, the court documents showed.The suspects met over the Internet about a month ago, said an affidavit filed by Brian Weaks, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In India, Economic NAZIES led by Chettiar Gang of World bank IMF slaves with FINMIN and RBI continue to Divert National revenue bypassing Parliament and Constitution!
An empowered group of ministers is meeting here on Thursday to find a way of removing anomalies in calculation of tax benefits for IT spec
ial economic zones, which account for bulk of the SEZs approved.
"The issue (relating to Section 10 (AA) of the Income tax Act) will be discussed by eGom. Ministers will take a decision," Commerce Secretary G K Pillai told reporters here on Wednesday.
Pillai said Section 10 (AA) needs to be amended so that the tax benefits under the SEZ Act are given without any distortion.
The section provides exemption from income tax to the SEZ units on the export income. For calculating the exemption, export turnover is divided by the total turnover of the assessee. But an assessee may have a unit outside the SEZ as well.
In the absence of change in the law, the IT SEZs promoted by most of the big groups such as Wipro, TCS, Satyam and Infosys stand to lose. Of the 531 SEZs approved, 320 are IT and ITeS units.
At its last meeting on October 24, the eGom headed by External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee decided to clear Essar's steel SEZ in Hazira and Adani's port SEZ in Mundra. Both the Essar and Adani SEZs were facing objections from the Revenue Department on different counts.
Now RBI relaxes forex derivatives accounting norms to save the MONEY Machine of Corporate imperialism and Brahaminical Hegemony!
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday relaxed the accounting guidelines for valuing derivatives, a move that will help the Indian banks with overseas
branches to post better financial results.
"It has now been decided to confine the applicability of the principle of borrower-wise asset classification to only the overdues arising from forward contracts and plain vanilla swap and options", the central bank said, while modifying its earlier notification for off-balance sheet exposures of banks.
Under the borrower-wise classification norms, all other funded facilities given to a defaulting clients are required to be shown as non-performing assets (NPAs)
Earlier, the RBI had said borrower-wise classification norms will apply to all funded facilities of a client if the receivables representing mark-to-market value of a derivative contract remains unpaid for over 90 days.
With the modification of the earlier circular, the unpaid amount towards foreign exchange derivatives contract entered between April 2007 and June 2008 will have to be parked in a separate account in the same of client.
RBI further said that amount overdue for more than 90 days will not make other funded facilities provided to the client as NPA as per the borrower-wise asset classification principle.
Rising overnight interest rates are a matter of concern but the liquidity position in the money market is comfortable now, a senior finan ce ministry official said on Wednesday. The official, who did not wish to be identified, also said short selling of stocks was no longer a concern as the stock market regulator had taken steps on the issue. Overnight cash rates rose to a two-week high of 12.75 per cent on Wednesday as treasury bill auctions and expectations of a bigger sale of government securities this week pushed up demand in a holiday-shortened week.
Largest public sector lender State Bank of India today said interest rates have peaked and now borrowers could see some softening of rates in the coming months mainly due to steps taken by the Reserve Bank and government to infuse liquidity.
Economic times reports:
The additional resources generated by the Union budget will determine just how much of the massive dues of fertiliser companies’ will be
settled in bonds this year. With the financial climate worsening, indications are that any clarity on the bonds from the Centre can only emerge by November end or even as late as December.
Recent back-of-the-envelope calculations by the fertiliser department indicated that around Rs 14,000 crore of the pending dues (against unpaid subsidies/concessions) could be settled in bonds in the current financial year while another Rs 31,000 crore-odd could see a cash settlement. However, those plans depend, more than ever, on how well the government is able to manage its fiscal deficit in 2008-09.
Earlier this week, finance minister P Chidambaram admitted that the government could overshoot its fiscal deficit targets for the year in view of the ongoing financial turmoil and the overall economic downturn. Well-placed government sources told ET, "Any clear perspective on what shape and size the fertiliser bonds for the current year may take would continue to remain fuzzy, atleast for another month."
Although input prices are now on the downslide, in consonance with crude oil prices, phenomenally high global prices for these materials during the year’s first half meant that the industry's working capital needs increased by four times over that of 2007-08.
This made it im-possible for fertiliser makers to leverage additional funds of that magnitude from financial institutions. Therefore, the government's fertiliser subsidy bill for the year is still projected at well over Rs one lakh crore. Apprehensions of the declining rupee trend have also added to the woes.
The pending dues account for a substantial chunk of the projected fertiliser subsidy bill of Rs 1, 20,000 crore. Budgetary provisions for the year, ironically and quite inexplicably, were only a paltry Rs 31,000 crore, spelling a massive difference. That allocated amount, infact, was enough to ensure fertiliser supplies only up to June 2008.
Not surprisingly, fertiliser companies are aggressively pushing for squaring up of all dues by the government urgently and in cash, while being deadset against the issuance of bonds. During 2007-08, Rs 7,500 crore, about 19% of the total subsidy for the year, was settled in the form of bonds.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Finance/Fiscal_deficit_to_decide_fate_of_Rs_45k_cr_fertiliser_dues/articleshow/3649448.cms
NBFCs can raise capital through perpetual debts: RBI
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday granted another window for non-deposit taking NBFCs to raise capital by issuing perpetual debts.
Considering the need for enhanced funds for increasing business and meeting regulatory requirements, it has been decided the non-deposit taking non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) may augment their capital funds by issue of perpetual debt, RBI said in a notification.
Such instruments would be considered as Tier I capital to the extent of 15 per cent of total Tier I capital as on March 31 of the previous accounting year, it said.
It also said that the amount of excess perpetual debt over permissible limit would qualify as Tier II capital within the eligible limit.
The minimum investment by single investor in such issue should not be less than Rs 5 lakh, it said, adding, the rate of interest payable to the investors may be either at a fixed rate or a floating rate referenced to market determined rupee interest benchmark rate.
The instruments which will be perpetual in nature will be issued in Indian Rupee only subject to lock-in clause with regard to payment of interest rates.
Commercial banks are allowed to raise capital by issuing perpetual debt for meeting capital adequacy ratio.
"The individuals began discussing going on a 'killing spree' that included killing 88 people and beheading 14 African Americans," Weaks said in the affidavit.
ATF special agent in charge James Cavanaugh said "H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet and 88 stood for "Heil Hitler."
"The U.S. Secret Service takes all threats against presidential candidates seriously and is actively investigating the allegations," said Richard Harlow, special agent in charge of the Secret Service-Memphis Field Office. "The Secret Service does not comment on this type of investigation."
Three-quarters of Americans now disapprove of President George W. Bush’s performance. Given this, and the fact that the policies and values of John McCain and his vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, are almost identical to those of Bush, you would expect Obama to be leading in the polls by a wider margin than he is.
The worldwide survey, conducted from May through October, also measured the level of interest in the U.S. presidential election campaign among world citizens. The survey asked whether respondents thought the election would make a difference in their country.
See, so caled Civil rights and trade union leaders in the United States are warning of last-minute efforts to deny victory to Democratic candidate Barack Obama by preventing thousands of likely pro-Obama voters from casting ballots on November 4.Known as “vote suppression,” the tactic involves challenges to eligibility on a variety of grounds, including improper voter registration and insufficient proof of US citizenship or place of residence.
Asking leaders from Bihar not to add ‘fuel to the fire’ over the raging controversy on the anti-North Indian campaign, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray said Railway Minister Lalu Prasad should not meddle in Maharashtra's affairs.In a suspected attack as part of the campaign against north Indians in Maharashtra, a 25-year-old Uttar Pradesh migrant died after being beaten up in a local train by fellow commuters, who allegedly picked up a fight with him and his three friends, police said on Wednesday.
The Bihar leaders should ‘not add fuel to the fire’ by making statements over the condition of north Indians in Mumbai.
Reacting to Lalu Prasad's demand that Sena should be banned, Uddhav said the ‘real’ culprits of Bihar people are their own leaders.
"Bihar leaders should ask themselves why people from their state have to migrate to Mumbai to make a living," Uddhav said.
"I would advice Lalu not meddle in Maharashtra's affairs," he said.
Meanwhile, in the wake of killing of a youth hailing from Uttar Pradesh in Mumbai, Chief Minister Mayawati asked the Centre and Maharashtra government to take immediate action to stop attacks on North Indians, saying they have ‘failed’ to prevent such incidents.
"The Centre and Maharashtra government should initiate immediate measures to check attack on North Indians in Maharashtra," Mayawati said in a letter shot off to the Union government and Maharashtra Chief Minister.
Terming the attacks as ‘unfortunate’, the Chief Minister said that both Centre and Maharashtra government have failed to check such ‘unconstitutional acts’.
Communalism falred once again to subvert the issues related to life and death of Common man in India! Washington Italian government is in no mood to relax Hanging Rope to KILL! thus, the SUPERSLAVE Government is not considering reduction in prices of petrol, diesel and domestic LPG despite crude falling to its lowest-level in 15 months as prices have to stablise at this level to wipe out the current revenue losses on fuel sales, an oil ministry official said. "There is no proposal to reduce fuel prices. We have to watch (the) situation for a few more weeks," said S Sundareshan, Additional Secretary in the Oil Ministry in New Delhi. The basket of crude India buys on Tuesday averaged at USD 56.72 per barrel, a level at which state-run Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum would break even if global prices were to stabilise for a month
On the other hand, Indian firms are likely to lay off a quarter of their employees in the next 10 days, as part of steps to contain costs in the face of shrinking margins amidst the economic turmoil, an industry body said on Wednesday. Trade body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) said the job cuts would be across the steel, cement, construction, real estate, aviation, IT-enabled services and financial services sectors.
Expansion has slowed in Asia's third-largest economy in the last two quarters, from the 8 per cent or more annual growth in the past four years, with high interest rates crimping demand and on the global financial crisis.
The central bank last week cut its forecast for growth in 2008/09 to 7.5-8 per cent from its earlier view of 8 per cent. This compares with the economy's 9 per cent growth in 2007/08.
"Employers have no other alternatives as part of their corporate strategy ... for sustaining their operations with squeezed margins (even) after after drastic cost cutting measures," ASSOCHAM said in a statement.
Last week, realty firm Parsvnath Ltd said it would axe "non-performing" employees, as it was facing slowing sales.
Top private carrier Jet Airways had sacked 1,900 employees mid-October, citing declining demand and high fuel costs, but reinstated them days later on protests and political pressure.
The deceased, Dharam Dev, a resident of Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, was onboard a Mumbai CST-bound local train from Khopoli along with the three friends yesterday when incident occurred.
Dev, who works as a helper at a construction site, was occupying the window seat in the train, when a group of eight to ten commuters, who appeared to be local villagers, forced them to vacate the seat, police said.
The local group then asked Dev and his friends if they were 'bhaiyyas' after which they started abusing them, they said.
According to the statement given by the victim's friends, the four were slapped and kicked, thus rendering Dev unconscious.
The local group got off the train at Karjat, while Dev and his friends remained in the train. The victim's friend then called up the Railway Protection Force (RPF) control number, which is displayed in trains.
Officials from the RPF then boarded the train at Badlapur and Dev was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.
A K Sharma, Commissioner of GRP, said, "As per our information, the person died at the hospital. The information we have suggests that there were no external injuries on the victim's body. We are waiting for the postmortem report".
"We have filed a case of rioting and murder against 10 to 12 unknown persons at the Karjat railway police station," Sharma said.
"Some persons have been brought in for questioning at Karjat police station but no arrests have been made yet in the case," he added.
Death of UP youth: Shivraj Patil speaks to Maha CM
New Delhi, October 29:
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil talked to Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in the wake of a youth from Uttar Pradesh being beaten up in a local train in Mumbai.
Patil spoke over telephone to the Chief Minister amidst suggestions from the Centre that the state administration should remain cautious and alert in the wake of possibilities of linking the death of a weapon-wielding youth from Bihar in a police shootout to attacks on North Indians in the state.
Minister of State for Home Shakil Ahmed that since these are very sensitive times, Maharashtra should be extra careful.
He said Maharashtra government has informed the Centre that the death of the UP migrant was due to clash between two groups of youngsters on sitting arrangement in a local train.
A Home Ministry spokesman said details have been sought from the state government about the incident, which came close on the heels of the death of Rahul Raj, a youth from Patna, who was shot dead by the police in a Mumbai bus on Monday.
Rahul had held a bus load of passengers hostage in Mumbai with a country-made revolver.
Lynching of youth not 'hate crime': Patil
Mumbai, October 29:
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil made it clear that lynching of a person in a train was not a ‘hate crime’ against North Indians and the government will pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the victim, who was beaten to death by fellow commuters.
"This is not a hate crime and we will give compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the victim," Patil said.
"The state government owns the responsibility of protecting migrants from other states including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said.
When asked whether the attackers were MNS activists, he said, "I do not have any confirmation of the report. But we will take strict action against the offenders."
Paswan demands imposition of President's rule in Maharashtra
Patna, October 29:
Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan demanded dismissal of Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra and trial of MNS leader Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray on charges of murder and sedition in view of MNS' anti-North Indian campaign.
'If a warning has not yet been issued to Maharashtra government under Article 355, there is no need for it any more and Vilasrao Deshmukh government must be dismissed forthwith,'' Paswan, president of Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), said.
Alleging that North-Indians were being attacked as part of 'deep rooted conspiracy', Paswan said Maharastra Navanirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray and his uncle Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray must be tried on charges of murder and sedition.
Pressing his point, Paswan said barely a day after a youth from Patna Rahul Raj was shot dead by Maharashtra police, who were reluctant to pull the trigger against MNS mobs brutalising helpless Biharis, a youth from Uttar Pradesh Dharamdev Rai was beaten to death in a train by 'divisive forces trying to reap political benefit by fomenting regionalism'.
Paswan, who was speaking after visiting Rahul Raj's family here, said an all-party delegation had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded a judicial inquiry into the killing by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court.
''It is unfortunate that the Maharashtra government is getting the incident probed by the chief secretary. The LJP rejects this probe and will settle for nothing less than a judicial inquiry,'' he said.
Lalu threatens to cancel train operation
New Delhi, October 29:
Against the backdrop of killing of a North Indian youth on a train in a Mumbai suburb, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad threatened to suspend train movement in states where rail passengers and properties are repeatedly attacked.
"Railways are becoming soft target in many states these days. If railway properties and passengers continued to be attacked we may think of cancelling train operations in those areas," Prasad said.
The Minister, however, clarified that he did not mean any particular state.
Prasad also spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and expressed serious concern over the incident involving Dharam Dev, the youth hailing from Uttar Pradesh who was beaten to death by fellow commuters.
The Minister also announced compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the next kith and kin of the deceased youth.
"Prime Minister and Soniaji have assured me that they would immediately take up the matter with Maharashtra government," he said.
Seeking tough action against those involved in the train incident, Prasad requested the Prime Minister to ensure ‘full security’ to North Indians in Maharashtra during the Chhath festival.
"I have told the Prime Minister to take stringent action against those behind the incident. I also spoke to Deshmukh for action against the culprits," he said.
'Maha Govt treating Raj Thackeray as its son-in-law’
Linking the death of a migrant from Uttar Pradesh in Maharashtra to the violation of the ‘honour’ of the state, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh asked Congress to ‘wake up’ and check such incidents before it faces the ire of voters in the coming elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
"The attack on the migrant from Sant Kabir Nagar in Uttar Pradesh which led to his death was in fact an attack on the honour of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," Singh said.
Attacking the Maharashtra government, he alleged that the Vilasrao Deshmukh dispensation was treating MNS chief Raj Thackeray as its ‘son-in-law’ even as he continues attacks on North Indians.
The police force of Deshmukh, R R Patil and Sharad Pawar has failed to protect north Indians, he alleged.
"While they shot dead Rahul Raj (a gun-wielding youth who died on Monday), they have not used even a stick on Raj Thackeray," he said.
"Congress should wake up before it faces the ire of North Indians in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said, while condemning the lynching of a youth from Uttar Pradesh in a train in Maharashtra on Tuesday.
Singh would soon meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to urge her to prevent repetition of such incidents.
Amar asks Lalu, Paswan to quit UPA
The Samajwadi Party asked Union ministers from Bihar Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan to resign from the Cabinet in the wake of attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra in an apparent bid to put pressure on the UPA government to prevent such incidents in that state.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi, SP leader Amar Singh said Lalu Prasad and Paswan should take a serious view of the attacks on north Indians in Maharashtra and resign from the Cabinet as a protest.
"Had I been in the Cabinet, I would have resigned as the Vilasrao Deshmukh government is not taking steps to prevent attacks despite the Prime Minister's intervention...I request Lalu Prasad and Paswan to resign from the Cabinet," Singh said.
He said he would not support the demand for imposition of President's Rule in Maharashtra as "fortunately or unfortunately we are supporting the UPA".
"The attack on a migrant from Sant Kabir Nagar in Uttar Pradesh which led to his death was in fact an attack on the honour of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar," he said.
He also asked Congress to "wake up" and check such incidents before it faces the ire of voters in the coming elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
"Congress should wake up before it faces the ire of north Indians in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," he said, while condemning the lynching of the youth in a train on Tuesday. Singh said he would soon meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to urge her to prevent repetition of such incidents.
US groups warn of moves to deny Obama victory
“This year has brought heightened efforts to disenfranchise and intimidate voters,” Wade Henderson, director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, declared recently. “These are targeted and insidious attempts to suppress the vote, particularly in communities of colour.”
John Sweeney, the head of the largest US trade union confederation, charges that groups favouring John McCain are responsible for vote-suppression campaigns in some key states.
Mr Sweeney said the labour movement “strongly condemns the coordinated national effort by the Republican Party and allied political operatives to suppress voter turnout and deny ballots to newly registered voters, particularly young people, the poor and people of colour.”
Tens of thousands of individuals in six swing states have been purged from voter rolls or have been prevented from registering to vote, The New York Times reported earlier this month. Many of these moves by state election officials appear to be in violation of federal law, the Times added.
The newspaper also said, however, that the purges and denials of eligibility do not seem to be coordinated by any political party.
CBS News reported this week that there is so far no indication of widespread voter suppression in states where balloting is permitted to take place weeks in advance of Election Day. Based on surveys it conducted in 17 of those states, the US television network found that charges of vote fraud or vote suppression “are far more rhetoric than reality.”
Some voting-rights activists have also warned that the machines used to count ballots at thousands of polling places are vulnerable to “hacking.” Computer experts could rig these machines to record inaccurate vote totals, these monitors say.
Even if broadly conducted and highly effectively, vote suppression and hacking of voting machines would probably not alter the outcome of this year's presidential election. Nearly all reputable polls show Senator Obama with a substantial lead that may be impossible to erase through such tactics.
Still, the Obama campaign plans to deploy armies of attorneys at polling places around the country on November 4 to monitor voting procedures and to initiate urgent legal action in response to complaints of vote suppression. The McCain camp is preparing a similar, though smaller, effort.
Millions of names are removed from voter rolls every year in the United States in response to deaths or changes in residency. But other factors may also be involved in some states. And that leads Wendy Weiser, an elections expert at New York University, to describe the culling process as “secret, prone to error and vulnerable to manipulation.”
“Lots and lots of eligible voters could get knocked off the voter rolls without any notice and, in many cases, without any opportunity to correct if before Election Day.”
Conversely, Senator McCain's campaign has voiced fears about efforts to inflate voter rolls by adding invalid registrations in neighbourhoods likely to support Senator Obama by wide margins. Senator McCain has pointed in particular to a group that organises in low-income urban communities. It was recently revealed that 30 percent of 1.3 million voter registrations submitted by the group were faulty.
Obama around the world
Outside the United States, Obama-mania continues to capture hearts and minds. A ‘Japanese Obama ’, Noyomus Sato, has attracted attention on his comedy show and in Chicago, where he got an ‘Obama cut’ from Obama’s real-life barber, Zariff
Since he started impersonating Obama, his website has gone from receiving 200 hits per day to 100,000: a clear sign that he should focus his comedy routines on the Democratic candidate for president.
Meanwhile, in Kenya in early October, author of the Obama-skeptical book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality Jerome Corsi was deported due to apparent visa difficulties. He was detained for 4 ½ hours before being released.
Though immigration officials said he was not in possession of the requisite work permit, his publicist Tim Guehler told Time Magazine that they had been assured in advance that their papers were in order. Could Corsi’s critical (and “factually-challenged”, according to Time) portrayal of Obama been at issue?
US Judge rejects Obama-born-in-Kenya claim!
A US federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit claiming Senator Barack Obama is ineligible to seek the presidency because he was either born in Kenya or is a citizen of Indonesia.
The US Constitution requires that a person be born in the United States and be a citizen of the country in order to be eligible to serve as president.
Judge Richard Barclay Surrick ruled that Philip Berg, an attorney in the state of Pennsylvania, lacked standing to bring such a suit.
The claim filed by Mr Berg, a supporter of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, is one of several desperate attempts by Senator Obama's opponents to block what appears to be his increasingly likely victory at the polls on November 4.
Segments of the US right wing will be disappointed by the court decision thwarting this move to depict Senator Obama as less than an authentic American.
Many of the same extremists have sought to link Senator Obama closely to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is portrayed by Obama-haters as both a communist and a supporter of radical Islam.
Senator Obama has posted on his campaign Website a birth certificate showing that he was born in the state of Hawaii in 1961 to Ann Dunham, an American woman, and Barack Obama Snr, a Kenyan who was studying at the University of Hawaii at the time. Following their divorce, Ms Dunham married an Indonesian man.
"I am totally disappointed by Judge Surrick's decision and, for all citizens of the United States, I am immediately appealing to the US Supreme Court," Mr Berg said in a statement following Friday's ruling.
It is not clear whether the Supreme Court will review Mr Berg's plea for a hearing prior to the November 4 election.
Gang unleashes terror in City Centre
A shop assistant was killed and a businessman seriously injured when gangsters unleashed terror in Nairobi City Centre on Tuesday afternoon.
Six gangsters robbed shops on Nairobi's Kaunda Street and Kenyatta Avenue. They fired their guns as they dashed through Wabera Street, Banda, Kimathi and later Biashara streets before escaping.
On Tuesday, three premises were raided and a police officer mugged in two hours.
Ran in circles
Some gang members walked towards Tom Mboya Street as police ran in circles searching for them.
After the robbery at Kant’s shop on Kaunda Street, the gangsters walked a block away to an electronics shop next to The Stanley Hotel where they shot dead a shop attendant before robbing the shop and walking away.
However, as the gang was escaping from Kenyatta Avenue, they bumped into police officers on patrol on Banda Street and ran in different directions.
One of them was seen tucking his gun in his trousers on Kimathi Street before disappearing towards Biashara Street.
On Biashara Street, the gangsters are said to have shot and killed a shop attendant as they engaged police in a shoot-out for 30 minutes.
A witness said the robber who killed the worker intimidated three police officers who were pursuing him as they had pistols while he had an AK- 47 rifle.
The victim is said to have been a worker at Kashmir Crafts, which the gang wanted to rob.
“He tried to run away after he realised thugs had stormed the shop and a thug who was keeping vigil outside killed him. I tried to alert a watchman to no avail as he walked confidently down Muindi Mbingu Street,” a witness said.
He said the gangster wore a short-sleeved white shirt and carried himself confidently.
The afternoon incident affected businesses and operations on Muindi Mbingu, Banda, Kimathi and Biashara streets and Kenyatta Avenue.
Pedestrians scampered for safety and hid under vehicles and in buildings as gunfire rent the air. Some people were injured in the melee.
Another witness said a middle-aged gangster drew a gun when he realised he was being trailed by police officers.
“He shot in the air three times before he disappeared,” he said, adding: “We did not know what was going on. Everything happened so fast.”
Meanwhile, a suspected mugger was arrested on Muindi Mbingu Street after he and his accomplices robbed a police officer of Sh300,000.
Are insurance firms fair to the fairer sex?
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Agencies
Posted: Oct 29, 2008 at 1225 hrs IST
New Delhi, October 29: They have conquered many a male bastion whether it is driving an Auto-Rickshaw or playing a role in the armed forces. Women, in India, however have little option when it comes to taking an insurance cover.
As a matter of fact, in a country where there are 930womenper 1000 men, Bajaj Allianz is the only company which offers insurance policies exclusively designed for women.
Recently, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) withdrew Jeevan Bharathi 1, a policy for women. "The policy wasn't popular. It didn't sell enough. So we withdrew it. We'll bring out a new policy soon", says Devraj Kashyap, Development officer at LIC.
However, Vinit Vidyarthi, Principal Officer at Almondz Insurance brokers Ltd, says, "Jeevan Bharthi didn't do well because it was not pushed well by LIC."
A Commonwealth Fund report 'Women and Health Coverage: The Affordability Gap', by researchers at the National Woman's Law Centre, says that women are at a disadvantage because they have greater health care needs and lower incomes than men.
"Yes, We don't have policies that are exclusively for women. But we understand that Women are equally at risk due to modern urban lifestyle," Says Soumi Rao, Manager of Public Relations at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
"While most of the health risks women face are similar to men and hence the coverage required is similar, they are at higher risk for cancer and hence could look at buying cancer protection," he adds.
I’m too old to play a prostitute: Julia Roberts
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ANI
Posted: Oct 29, 2008 at 1536 hrs IST
Washington, October 29: One of Hollywood’s greatest actresses Julia Roberts has laughed off reports of a sequel to her hit movie ‘Pretty Woman’, insisting that she’s too old to play a prostitute.
The now 41-year-old played the role of a ‘hooker with a heart of gold’ in the 1990 movie, which also starred Richard Gere.
While telling TV show Extra at a charity event in California on October 27, the actress made it clear she had no plans of returning to the streets of Los Angeles.
"No one wants to see an old hooker! Do they?" Contactmusic quoted her, as saying.
Malaysia likely to issue Fatwa against Yoga
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Agencies
Posted: Oct 28, 2008 at 1354 hrs IST
Kuala Lumpur, October 29: Yoga may soon be outlawed in Malaysia, if a prominent body of clerics which is planning to issue a fatwa on the practice, has its way.
Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council is going to impose Fatwa on Yoga after Zakaria Stapa, a lecturer of University of Kebangsaan’s Islamic Studies Centre, on Tuesday advised Muslims who have taken up Yoga to stop practising it fearing that it could deviate their belief, local news reports said in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
“A ruling would be made by the council’s Chairman, Abdul Shukor Husin, in this regard,” Deputy Director-General of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, Othman Mustapha, quoted as saying by New Straits Times online edition
RBI must try to keep systemic liquidity ‘positive’
29 Oct, 2008, 0022 hrs IST,JAYESH MEHTA,
The first policy announced by the new Reserve Bank of India governor was intentionally devoid of any bells and whistles and signals a clear intent t
o be vigilant, intercede regularly and act swiftly for effective management of liquidity.
Basically, they showed that they are ready to manage the trinity of financial stability, price stability and growth. A key focus for RBI is to ensure the global credit crises has limited impact on the Indian markets and banking system.
The global environment has had its influence in India through different channels and markets are looking to RBI to see how best India’s strong banking system can remain reasonably insulated.
The announcement impact had been diluted in advance after RBI cut the CRR by 250 bps in multiple stages and the repo rate by 100 bps over the past few weeks.
Markets were looking at the policy to get news on whether RBI will keep liquidity easy and whether there would be more measures to spur credit growth. RBI signalled intent to provide liquidity when required without going the whole hog and is clearly not willing to compromise on credit quality.
The key thing to watch out is how RBI responds to exchange-rate movements if the dollar strengthening story continues. The liquidity angle has been complicated, given RBI’s foreign exchange intervention wherein the dollar sales would have had an adverse impact on rupee liquidity. As the offshore capital markets are kind of shut down from raising money point of view, the burden has got shifted to the banking system. This has put an extra stress on domestic liquidity.
RBI has shown its intent to provide liquidity as and when required by both conventional and non-conventional route. Another key thing, which has come out very clearly from the policy, is the fact that RBI is looking at SLR from prudence point of view (and not just liquidity tool). They see SLR as a source of strength in the current financial scenario and future liquidity interventions will be managed through more CRRs, OMOs and LAFs for market intervention.
The markets were expecting a rollback in some of counter-cyclical measures on “Risk Weights” and “Capital Adequacy” which they had initiated over the past few years, as those concerns have receded somewhat.
We think that this will give some boost to relevant sectors, as the scenarios have reversed. It is very clear that we have entered into a slowdown phase in economy though we may all have different views on the extent of it. Inflation is a lagging indicator and the pace of deceleration is going to increase.
To give a boost to the economy, we believe that RBI will continue to rely on conventional tools like CRR, repo, reverse repo rate cuts and other unconventional moves like providing more accommodation in SLR.
In short, given the current environment, RBI should try and keep systemic liquidity from ‘negative to positive’, and in order to assure markets, can continue with the measures announced in the past fortnight for the medium term at the very least, rather than keeping it as a temporary measure. This will definitely go a long way in bringing much-needed stability in the Indian financial markets.
(The author is MD & head of FICC, DSP Merrill Lynch)
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/Economy/Policy/RBI_must_try_to_keep_systemic_liquidity_positive/articleshow/3649295.cms
More firms ban execs from ill-gotten pay
29 Oct, 2008, 2020 hrs IST, REUTERS
NEW YORK: Nearly two-thirds of big U.S. companies have banned their leaders from keeping hefty bonuses when there are questions over executive condu
ct or the accuracy of financial results, a policy the government is also demanding from firms selling shares to the Treasury Department as part of the bailout plan.
A new study to be released on Thursday finds that these big corporations have voluntarily adopted so-called "clawback" policies that allow them to recoup portions of executive pay in the event of financial restatements, unethical conduct or other reasons. An early copy was provided to Reuters.
Many investors say such rules should be standard practice at companies, saying it's outrageous for executives to be able to keep ill-gotten pay. The Treasury Department, in compensation rules laid down as part of the financial rescue, has also latched onto the hot topic and demanded that companies selling equity stakes to the government agree to adopt clawback policies.
Overall, 64.2 percent of the largest 95 publicly held companies in the Fortune 100 had disclosed clawback policies as of this year, up from 42.1 percent in 2007 and 17.6 percent in 2006, according to the study from pay research firm Equilar Inc.
"We're switching from a situation from where it was a toss-up as to whether a company would have a clawback policy to now, there is a clear consensus that clawbacks are a good corporate governance policy," said Alexander Cwirko-Godycki, a research manager at Equilar and one of the study's authors.
Lockheed Martin Corp, Motorola Inc and Hess Corp are among the companies that have disclosed clawback policies this year, according to Redwood Shores, California-based Equilar.
The provisions vary from company to company. The study found that overall, clawback policies are becoming broader, applying to more types of conduct and covering more kinds of compensation that executives receive.
The policies generally do not require CEOs and others to forfeit all their compensation. Instead, they target things like cash bonuses as well as stock options, restricted shares and shares granted for meeting various performance goals, Equilar said.
A handful of companies, including PepsiCo Inc. also have extended clawback provisions to apply to outside directors on the board, not just company executives, the study found.
The clawback concept is not new. The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law included a provision requiring the CEO or chief financial officer of a public company to repay compensation if there were to be an accounting restatement as a result of misconduct.
That has led to pressure for companies to enact their own policies. The primary driver for boards of directors, according to Equilar, is to deter corporate managers from taking actions that could potentially harm the company's financial position.
The recent Treasury Department requirements also go further than Sarbanes-Oxley, expanding the provisions to the top five officers at a company, for example. The Treasury rules only cover financial institutions selling equity stakes to the government.
Michael Melbinger, a partner at law firm Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago who advises boards of directors on compensation matters, said the clawback concept is gaining more acceptance among boards, as well as among corporate executives.
"They feel like they want to be part of good governance and they don't think they are going to do anything that leads to a clawback, so they are amenable to it," he said.
IMF announces 20-bn-euro rescue package for Hungary
29 Oct, 2008, 1526 hrs IST, AGENCIES
WASHINGTON: A group of donors led by the International Monetary Fund announced they would loan 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) to Hungary, whi
ch has been hit hard by the global financial crisis.
Out of the total, 12.5 billion euros has been pledged by the IMF, 6.5 billion from the European Union and a billion by the World Bank, the IMF said in a statement late Tuesday.
"An IMF staff mission and the Hungary authorities have today reached agreement... on an economic program supported by an 12.5-billion-euro loan under a 17-month stand-by arrangement," IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said.
"The EU stands ready to provide a loan of 6.5 billion euros and the World Bank has agreed to provide 1.0 billion euros."
The IMF loan is subject to approval from the IMF executive board, expected in early November.
As the fallout from the financial crisis ripples around the world, a number of countries have found themselves needing assistance from the IMF, a lender of last resort to cash-strapped nations.
Iceland has also agreed a loan and Belarus and Pakistan have appealed for assistance.
The European Union confirmed on Wednesday that it was prepared to grant the 6.5-billion-euro loan to Hungary.
Falling market makes stocks cheaper than Diwali snack
28 Oct, 2008, 0830 hrs IST, ET Bureau
MUMBAI: In yet another attempt to salvage a sinking stock market, market regulator SEBI has made it easier for promoters with over 55% stake in companies to increase their holdings through creeping acquisition. However, though stock prices are at their extreme lows, it’s unclear how many promoters would use this opportunity, given the liquidity crunch and turmoil in financial markets.
SEBI has now allowed promoters to buy up to 5% stake every year to increase their holdings up to 75%. In order to ensure that such buying is reflected in the stock prices and provides an opportunity for retail investors to exit, the regulator said that such share purchases should be in the open market. “This is aimed at bringing in the promoters as natural buyers. In the absence of buyers, even a small offloading by FIIs is difficult for the market to absorb,” said a senior investment banker.
Also, promoters are automatically exempt from SEBI regulations for a 5% increase in stake annually as a result of a buyback by the company. This again will make it easier for companies to carry out stock buyback.
SEBI announced the relaxation on Monday, when the Sensex broke yet another psychological level, slipping below the 8,000-mark intra-day before recouping a major portion of losses. The rupee dipped below Rs 50 a dollar intra-day, but closed higher following RBI intervention and dollar selling by a large US bank. The Sensex plunged to a three-year low of 7,697.39, before bouncing back to close the day at 8,509.56, down 191.51 points, or 2%, from the previous close.
The 50-share Nifty closed at 2524.20, down 59.80 points, or 2.3%, from the previous close. Bears were clearly unruffled by reports that the regulator was analysing data to find out attempts to hammer down prices. It is also becoming obvious by now that the ban on overseas lending of Indian shares by FIIs is not having the desired impact. As per provisional data, FIIs pulled out a net Rs 1,027 crore on Monday. However, the only silver lining is that domestic institutions still appear to be flush with funds: they bought shares worth Rs 916 crore net on Monday.
Aishwarya most bankable Bollywood star
29 Oct, 2008, 2008 hrs IST, IANS
NEW DELHI: At 35, Bollywood's blue-eyed-girl Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who celebrates her birthday on Saturday, continues to woo Indian filmmakers wit
h her international appeal, making her one of the most bankable stars in the Indian film industry.
Says popular film critic Taran Adarsh, “Aishwarya's career graph has been very good though not excellent but she is the only actress who can attract national and international crowds. She is the face of so many international brands and a very good actress also.”
London-based Indian filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra, who directed the actress in the critically acclaimed English movie “Provoked”, also credits her as a superstar with an international appeal.
“She is a superstar. Not only is she a recognised name worldwide; she is a totally bankable star. My personal experience with her from 'Provoked' says that the film wouldn't have worked without her.
“The best thing about her is that despite her stature, she is completely a director's actor. She would also give her inputs in the character and would never come back to see a shot once the director approves it. She is thoroughly professional,” Mundhra added.
Aishwarya, now married to Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, was born in Mangalore to Krishnaraj Rai, a marine biologist, and Vrinda Rai, a writer.
After winning the Miss World crown in 1994, Aishwarya took to acting in 1997 with a Tamil film “Iruvar” opposite southern superstar Mohanlal and made her Bollywood debut in the same year opposite Bobby Deol in "Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya". Both films bombed.
In the following year, she won her first Filmfare Best Actress award South for the Tamil film “Jeans” but became an overnight star with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” in 1999. She bagged the Filmfare Best Actress award for this too.
In 2000, she gave a power packed performance in Subhash Ghai's "Taal" but followed it up with a string of flops like "Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai"(2000), "Dhai Akshar Prem Ke"(2000), "Albela" (2001), "Hum Kisise Kum Nahi"(2001) and many more.
In between, she was recognised for her supporting role in Yash Chopra's 2000 hit “Mohabbatein”. Her career was resurrected in 2002 with Bhansali's “Devdas” fetching her another Filmfare award in the Best Actress category.
She was highly appreciated for her performances in “Chokher Bali"(2002), “Raincoat” (2004), "Guru"(2006), “Dhoom 2” (2006), "Provoked"(2007), “Jodhaa Akbar” (2008) and “Sarkar Raj” (2008).
In her career spanning 11 years, Aishwarya has acted in over 40 movies in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English. Her English projects included “Bride & Prejudice” (2003), “Mistress of Spices” (2005), and “The Last Legion” (2007).
She is also starring in another international project “Pink Panther 2”, a sequel to the original comedy.
The beauty queen-turned-actress is also counted among the 100 most beautiful women in the world. Actress Priyanka Chopra feels that “Aishwarya has a perfect face”.
“She is a gorgeous lady, a very elegant person and a great representative of India abroad and I think she has made some great cinema recently. I'd like to watch a lot more of her in films,” Priyanka told media.
After her wedding in April last year, Aishwarya has cut down on her projects and has become very choosy too. But critic Adarsh feels it is only due to her “added family responsibilities”.
Currently, the actress is busy shooting with Abhishek in Kochi for Mani Ratnam's forthcoming film tentatively titled “Raavan”.
Russia looks at India, China amid global financial turmoil
29 Oct, 2008, 1547 hrs IST, PTI
MOSCOW: A key strategic plan prepared by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for Russia's foreign and economic ties in the next decade has identified Indi
a and China as priority partners, with most of the top western nations headed for recession.
The government of Prime Minister Putin on Monday adopted a strategy to develop former Communist nation's foreign economic ties till 2020, in which the world's most dynamically emerging India and China have been identified as the priority partners.
According to an unnamed official, quoted by the state-owned ITAR-TASS news agency, most of the strategic plan adopted by the cabinet is highly confidential; few passages for public consumption mention India and China as the priority partners, albeit Moscow will continue to look at the currant focal partner European Union for hi-tech, energy investments and acquisition of European assets.
With European markets falling and the continent slipping into a long recession, Moscow seems to be willing to grant India, as its priority partner, wider access to its energy assets.
The acquisition by ONGC Videsh of London-listed Imperial Energy operating in west Siberian region of Tomsk is expected to be speedily cleared by the government.
Russia seems to be willing for greater mutual investments in the energy sector and the issue is likely to be on the top of the bilateral agenda of the annual Indo-Russian summit in the first week of December, when President Dmitry Medvedev is to pay his maiden visit to India.
Farming out: Pune’s tillers reach out to tourists
29 Oct, 2008, 0404 hrs IST,Omkar Sapre, ET Bureau
PUNE: The picturesque Maval taluka in Pune district is a popular tourist destination, famous for its dams, caves, forts and its awe-inspiring mounta
ins. A group of 25 farmers from the taluka have joined hands to set up weekend getaways for tourists.
Pooling around 100 acres of their land, the farmers have formed the Maval Agri-Tourism Development Co-operative Society with the intention of promoting agritourism. The Pune District Cooperative Bank will provide loans to these farmers to help them upgrade facilities at their farms.
Agritourism involves visiting a working farm, or any agricultural, horticultural or agribusiness operation, for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or involvement in the activities of the farm. The host farmers also double up as guides.
Maval taluka has been an attraction in recent times with many actors and industrialists making a beeline to buy land there. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s controversial 22-acre plot is located here while yesteryear hero
Dharmendra owns a farmhouse.
“Lots of tourists visit the dams, caves and forts in the Maval taluka. Lonavala and Khandala are also a major attraction. Most tourists are unaware about the specialties of our area and keep roaming without any direction. We want to attract them to our farms, which will help also us generate additional income,” Vijay Kalekar, sarpanch of the Kale Colony village, the headquarters of the farmers’ society, said.
One of our members also operates a boating club in the backwaters of the Pavana dam, he said. “We want to introduce tourists to activities like floriculture, harvesting, bee-keeping, sericulture and dairy.”
The Kale Colony gram panchayat would be the entry point for tourists, who would be received by farmers and escorted to their farms. “Some farmers have residential arrangements on their farms, while the others are upgrading their premises,” Mr Kalekar said.
The activities are based on the model devised by the Agri Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), a private, Pune-based body set up by entrepreneur Pandurang Taware in 2005. ATDC is promoted by Baramati-based Rajendra Pawar, nephew of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
Mr Taware, who operates agritourism projects in 52 locations, providing expertise, said, “Many unemployed farmers in Maval taluka were cheated of their lands as they sold at throwaway rates. Later, they worked as watchmen and domestic help on the same land.
Agritourism will help them generate jobs. We are aware of parties happening in places like Lonavala, Khandala and Pavananagar in Maval taluka. We are targeting tourists who want to spend a weekend on the farms.”
Apart from being acquainted with agricultural operations like sowing and harvesting, tourists also get a chance to savour authentic ethnic food, handicrafts, dress, culture, music and language. Rural activities, such as bullock-cart rides, milking and picking farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, are some of the other highlights.
Agritourism is a growing activity as people are increasingly choosing rural areas for leisure trips, Mr Taware said. “ATDC started with a pilot project in Baramati in 2005. We received 6,000 tourists during the first year of our operations. Our turnover was then Rs 2 lakh. We now operate in 52 locations across the state and look to close this financial year at Rs 50 lakh,” Mr Taware said.
Germany unaware of EADS plan to shift headquarters
29 Oct, 2008, 2013 hrs IST, REUTERS
BERLIN: The German government is unaware that European aerospace group EADS is considering shifting its entire headquarters to Paris, a German gover
nment spokesman said on Wednesday.
The company currently has joint headquarters in Paris and Munich.
"I am not aware of such considerations," government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a regular government news conference when asked if he knew about any plans by EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois to move the headquarters to Paris.
"I cannot imagine they (the plans) would be pursued."
EU to propose doubling aid available to troubled member states
29 Oct, 2008, 1819 hrs IST, AGENCIES
BRUSSELS: The European Commission will propose to nearly double the maximum amount of EU aid that can be given to member states facing economic troub
le to 25 billion euros, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.
"We sent to the council (of member states) proposals for increasing this ceiling to 25 billion euros (32 billion dollars)," Almunia told journalists in Brussels.
Under a 2002 rule, the European Union can provide up 12 billion euros in financial assistance to member states that do not use the euro when their economies run into serious trouble.
On Tuesday, the EU agreed to provide Hungary 6.5 billion euros in aid as part of 20 billion euro package along with the International Monetary fund and the World Bank.
Global finance could lose $2.8 trillion in crisis
28 Oct, 2008, 1526 hrs IST, REUTERS
TOKYO/LONDON: The global financial system could lose $2.8 trillion to the credit crisis, the Bank of England said on Tuesday, before an expected interest rate cut in the United States that others are poised to match.
Governments have agreed to inject around $4 trillion into banks and markets to contain the worst financial crisis in 80 years, which has forced stock markets to tumble and banks out of business, hastening a recession in much of the world.
Japan restricted investor bets on falling share prices with immediate effect to try to end a stock market slide, which has particularly hit its banking sector, and tried to talk down a rallying yen that threatens to deepen its economic downturn.
European shares gained 0.9 percent and Japan's Nikkei climbed 6.4 percent after hitting lows not seen in 26 years.
Prime Minister Taro Aso delayed a parliamentary election to take steps to concentrate on protecting Japan, the world's second biggest economy, from global recession.
The Bank of England (BoE) said the work so far in containing the crisis should calm the banking system but was cautious about the impact on the wider economy. It projected losses globally at $2.8 trillion.
"The instability of the global financial system in recent weeks has been the most severe in living memory," said Deputy Governor John Gieve. "And with a global economic downturn under way, the financial system remains under strain."
The BoE is expected to cut interest rates next week, a move the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are also expected to take to try to encourage more spending in economies increasingly fearful of a long, deep recession.
The consensus among Fed watchers is for a half-point cut in overnight rates to 1 percent, the lowest level since June 2004. It has already cut the benchmark federal funds rate to 1.5 percent from 5.25 percent over the past 13 months.
It will announce its decision on Wednesday. The ECB and Bank of England are expected to cut rates on Thursday next week.
An opportunity for Indian IT?
29 Oct, 2008, 0306 hrs IST,Vivek Sharma,
The financial crisis in the US, accentuated by the demise/restructuring of big financial institutions, has veritably taken the world by storm, leadin
g to a lot of speculation on the impact of the same on different industry verticals, the world over. To assess the impact of the financial crisis vis-Ã -vis the Indian IT industry, following facts need to be reviewed:
The world output is estimated at more than $50 trillion and the US represents more than 25% of this output. Any crisis in this mega economy will have overall effects. Today, the world is not only much more economic (than political as in the past), it is getting integrated with strong interdependencies.
Major emerging economies like China and India have removed the economic insulations/barriers, thus further contributing to making the world one economically integrated entity. Not only are the geographies much more interdependent, industries are also much more interdependent. A problem or opportunity in any major economy or industry has a cascading effect. Hence, it is understandable that IT being the multi-geography and multi-industry enabler gets affected by the mega trends in any of these. The question is whether Indian IT gets positively affected or negatively in the current financial crisis.
If we go back to the hi-tech bubble of this decade, Indian IT was positively impacted. There were many reasons like cost competitiveness of Indian IT, relatively smaller presence of IT in India, availability of talent pool and language communication advantage, etc. All these together enabled the growth of Indian IT. What followed was a big wave of outsourcing to capitalise on the above advantages. The companies already existing in India ramped up their operations and many companies started their first operations in India. We also started to see much lower brain drain and in certain cases even reverse brain drain. This further helped the companies operating in India to scale up the operations as the availability of experienced manpower increased.
However, the scenario now is quite different. For example, the size of IT companies in India is already quite significant with employment of more than one million people. In the past few years, the cost advantage, though not fully gone, has surely diminished due to high salary increases year after year. Moreover, the strengthening of the rupee in the recent past was also eroding the cost competitiveness. Weakening of the rupee these days may provide certain temporary relief; however, the trend will stay. Therefore, optimising costs by further outsourcing may not be that lucrative anymore. Already, there are hiring freezes and even size reduction by certain IT companies in India. This is a recent phenomenon as in the past operations in India were not affected by hiring freezes, etc. It is, therefore, a clear demonstration of local operations maturing and becoming costlier.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/An_opportunity_for_Indian_IT/articleshow/3649498.cms
India's demographic dilemma
29 Oct, 2008, 0311 hrs IST,Janmejaya Sinha,
We talk these days about India's favourable demographics. We are one of the few countries in the world where the dependency ratio will improve in the
coming years. There are 570 million people in India under the age of 25. When most of the developed world is beset with the problem of ageing, we have a uniquely young population.
However, whether this is an advantage or not depends on our ability to have a productive population. If we have a large group of young uneducated people without the ability to participate in the workforce, what we will have is a demographic disaster. We will have an army of young people not ready for the 21st century, left behind and increasingly frustrated with their lot. Their frustration can find an outlet in violence and rage that may challenge the very fabric of our society. To ensure they can join the workforce is not being good but simply being smart.
India's workforce today has 484 million people. Of these 273 million are working in rural areas primarily in agriculture (many of them clearly underemployed), there are another 61 million working in manufacturing and about 150 million in services. Shockingly, 40% of the current workforce is illiterate and another 40% is below 12 class pass. That means 200 million of our workers cannot even sign their name! Given that 60% of our workforce is in rural areas, which provides only about 18% of our GDP and the growth engine for our economy is the services sector, these simple statistics condemn our rural workforce to penury and destitution.
What is worse, given their skill levels it is very difficult for them to escape their fate by migrating to the services sector. It is true that much of our services sector is correctly characterised by the woman carrying bricks on a construction site or the family run neighbourhood kirana store - both services reasonably tolerant of illiteracy. However the openings arising in modern India, even in modern retail and more mechanised construction, will seek a basic education. It is hard to use uneducated people in the productive parts of our economy. At the higher end in IT, financial services and healthcare the problem is different - we need high quality graduates. In fact, we will not be able to accelerate our GDP growth rate to over 10% or have any meaningful impact on inequality in incomes unless we can address this.
Let me ply you with some unfortunate statistics. Currently about 23 million children are eligible for entry into the school system yet only six million finish the 12 standard and only about 2.3 million graduate. Thus 17 million do not even finish school. It gets worse than that - the quality of education on offer is abysmal. On any day 25% of the teachers are absent and 50% of children in class V cannot read a story and 21% of them cannot recognise numbers. Little wonder that parents dependent on government schools do not see the relevance of sending their children to school.
Our estimates show that there are 89 million people expected to join the work force in the next five years. However, 47 million of these will be school drop-outs. Only 13 million of these will be graduates and above. While our demand over the next five years is met by the supply on offer in overall numeric terms, if we disaggregate this by sector, we find that there will be a shortage of 600,000 graduates by 2012. However, if we adjust for employability, which is about 60% for graduates, we find the overall shortage will be in excess of five million for graduates.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Comments__Analysis/Indias_demographic_dilemma/articleshow/3649503.cms
Prognosis on consumer spending
27 Oct, 2008, 0044 hrs IST,Rama Bijapurkar, ET Bureau
We are spooking ourselves into a slowdown that is even slower than is warranted by the reality of how much our consumers' disposable income and their
mood has actually been hit. Gloom and doom feeds on itself, and then it makes companies even more pessimistic in their marketing conduct as they shift from coaxing consumers to buy (as they usually do in the normal course of their business) to conserving their own cash and not taking chances on sales growth generating expenditure.
The last several quarters saw unprecedented rise in input costs, but companies decided to absorb much of it and opt for margin pressure rather than pass it on to the consumer and risk decreasing consumer demand. Their bet was on a steady future increase in consumer income and desire to consume, hence top-line growth would more than offset the margin drop, and profits growth would be safe. They also strove to improve margins through efficiencies. Now it seems to be the reverse logic that is operating - companies have bull and bear behaviour with respect to consumers too!
The bet seems to be that consumers have no money to spend, so let's focus on value growths, pass on price increases to consumers, focus on the value end of the market and cut marketing expenditure. But before totally moving to this line of action, companies should pause and examine who their consumers are, how badly they are affected and in what way (real income hits? Credit availability and price? Uncertainty driven 'wait and watch' mood?). The picture may be far from bleak, in fact there may be opportunities to shore up market share or customer loyalty.
Gloom and doom based on abstract debates like whether we have a de-coupled economy or on an exaggerated notion of how aam janata are linked to the stock market needs to be replaced by a more consumer-centred analysis of consumer demand. The stock market effects actually are far exaggerated - the number of households it directly or indirectly affects is around 20 million (admittedly 100 million people). The bad 'good' news is that most Indians don't have pensions and hence don't have the life crippling story of their old age savings being wiped out. Of course, that does not mean having a pension fund is undesirable. But it means that we don't have that problem just now. There is no reason for us to assume that stockbroker and share bazaar players committing suicide is more dangerous for our economy than the farmer suicides due to indebtedness that we just saw.
Let's look at the state of consumer demand through the lens of 'real people' not abstract macro constructs. The fact is that Consumer India is a hydra-headed monster, and comprises many demand segments or "mini Indias". Each of these is not as badly hit by the US recession - indeed some 85 million farmers and their families are quite de-linked, and have a good monsoon and crop and recent loan write-offs. Nor did they gain much as world food prices skyrocketed nor do they lose as they come down. Hit by the US recession are 1.6 million people and their families in IT/ ITES sectors, traditionally good spenders, now with shaky jobs and low confidence, taking some of the pubs and landlords that they patronise down with them.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Comments__Analysis/Prognosis_on_consumer_spending/articleshow/3643744.cms
Bumpy ride for carmakers in US
29 Oct, 2008, 0614 hrs IST,
For years, auto and energy industry watchers wondered how high the price of gas would have to climb before consumers in the US - still the world's biggest automobile market - would change their driving habits. Now they know. As the price neared and passed $4 per gallon in the late spring and summer, American motorists cut back on their driving and started to shun the fuel-hungry small trucks and sportutility vehicles that had been profit centers for auto manufacturers in the US. Many even switched to mass transit, the poor step child of America's transportation mix since the 1950s.
The change in consumer attitudes about fuel efficiency has been so swift and widespread that the American vehicle manufacturers have found themselves once again behind the curve relative to their Asian and European competitors, just as they did following the oil embargo of 1973. But after the 1973 embargo and an oil price spike in the 1970s and early 1980s, the price of gasoline in the US declined. Almost immediately, US automakers began introducing big minivans, powerful new SUVs and luxurious pickup trucks. Consumers loved them, and small cars were displaced from the top of the US sales charts.
Will that happen again, or has the cost of energy - not to mention growing concerns about global warming - triggered a long-term shift in the automobile marketplace?
Wharton management professor John Paul MacDuffie, co-director of the International Motor Vehicle Program, believes that the changes this time are more likely to stick. "It certainly feels and looks like that right now," he says, citing a key variant in the auto industry of 2008 versus the 1970s and 1980s. "What's different now is that there are these alternative technologies such as hybrids and fuel cells; some are in the marketplace, some are rushing to market and others are in the pipeline." In the 1980s, "there weren't really any brand new technologies that promised significant or permanent reductions in fuel consumption. The only option was mainly just to build a smaller product."
Making the situation even worse for automakers is that the high price of oil is driving up other costs - for energy to run its plants and distribute its products, and for raw materials. The cost of steel has doubled since the beginning of the year.
Smaller cars are also part of the industry's response this time. Autos such as Daimler-Benz's Smart Car, Honda's Fit and GM's Aveo - all comparatively tiny vehicles of the sort once popular only in Europe and Asia, where gas prices have long been higher than in the US - are now entering the US. GM announced in July that it hopes to introduce a minicar called Beat, which has been successful overseas, to the US by 2012. But automakers in the US - and in Europe and Asia - are also rushing to expand their offerings of hybrid engines, which employ an electric motor to work in tandem with a traditional internal combustion engine to provide a boost in gas mileage. The electric motor is powered by batteries that are recharged by the petroleum-powered engine when the vehicle is cruising at high speed, or when the vehicle brakes or coasts. Some manufacturers, including Ford, GM and Toyota, have said they aim to start selling "plug-in" hybrids in which the electric motor can take on more of the work because of more powerful batteries that can be recharged between trips by plugging them into a standard wall outlet.
Many unhappy returns
Consumer demand and the manufacturers' scramble to serve it can be seen in the sales numbers. Auto sales in the US fell 18% year-to-year in June, mostly due to sparse sales of once popular light trucks, which include pickup trucks and SUVs. Those light trucks represented 55% of all US vehicle sales in 2005. In the first half of 2008, their share was down to 47%. In May, General Motors announced it would close four truck and SUV plants and roll out more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Ford, for its part, announced in June that it would delay by two months the introduction of its redesigned F-150 pickup truck, which for years was the nation's top-selling vehicle. The new 2009 model will instead debut in the late fall of this year. In addition, the company said it will reduce by 90,000 its production of pickups and sport utility vehicles in the second half of the year. And even though Ford said it plans to build additional fuel-efficient cars, it expects to produce 25% fewer vehicles overall than it did during the second half of 2007.
Govt examining relief for exporters
29 Oct, 2008, 2048 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: Concerned over a sharp decline in export growth to 10 per cent in September from about 27 per cent in August this year, the Commerce Minis
try is working on a relief package for exporters.
"Commerce Ministry is preparing a relief package in consultation with the industry and it will be submitted to the Finance ministry. In the next couple of days, it will be finalised," Commerce Secretary G K Pillai told reporters here.
After an impressive growth of 35.1 per cent for the first five months of the current fiscal, the export growth has plunged. In fact, several of the employment-oriented sectors have shown negative growth.
"Yes we are seeing slowdown in our exports... September figures are just about 10 per cent growth compared with 35 per cent over the last five months," the Commerce Secretary said.
He said recession in the US and problems in Europe are bound to affect Indian exports, "because people are not buying there".
With the problems in the buying countries, the sharp fall in rupee value has not been of much help. While the rupee depreciation helps improve exporters' margins, the problem is drying up or cancellation of orders.
Many Indian exporters are forced to scale down their businesses laying off workers as hundreds of the US and European garment stores have pulled the shutters down and several of them went bankrupt.
Amnesty concerned over Colombia conflict
Bogota (Colombia) (AP): Amnesty International urged the United States and other nations to halt military aid to Colombia until it stems a rise in killings of noncombatants by security forces and heeds other UN prescriptions for ending its long-running internal conflict.
In a 94-page report yesterday, the international human rights watchdog questions President Alvaro Uribe's claims that Colombia "is experiencing an irreversible renaissance of relative peace" and "rapidly falling levels of violence."
Amnesty acknowledges that kidnappings and conflict-related killings of civilians have decreased since Uribe first took office in 2002, and some major cities are safer. But the report says that's only part of the picture.
"Colombia remains a country where millions of civilians, especially outside the big cities and in the countryside, continue to bear the brunt of this violent and protracted conflict," the report says, adding that "impunity remains the norm in most cases of human rights abuses."
The Colombian vice president's office, which oversees human rights matters, had no immediate comment on the Amnesty report. But Monday evening, Uribe called on the military to "completely eradicate whatever perverse notion might remain in any member of the armed forces who is not committed to absolutely respect human rights."
He made the comments as the UN's high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay of South Africa, arrived for a weeklong visit.
On Friday, three colonels were fired over the mysterious disappearance of 11 noncombatants from a Bogota suburb. The bodies were later found hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in common graves in a war zone.
Mccain continues to attack Obama for his economic policy
Washington (PTI): Refusing to accept his trail in Pennsylvania, as shown by some state surveys, the Republican nominee for the US presidential election vowed to go down to the wire and continued to slam his Democratic rival Barack Obama for talking about redistributing wealth.
"After months of campaign trail eloquence, we finally learned what Senator Obama's economic goal is to spread the wealth. In a radio interview he revealed this week, he said the same thing, that one of the "tragedies of the civil rights movement is that it didn't bring about redistributive change." Can you imagine? Senator Obama believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs," McCain said.
"... He's more interested in controlling wealth than creating it, in redistributing money instead of spreading opportunity. I'm going to create wealth for all Americans by creating opportunity for all Americans. Senator Obama is running to be redistributionist-in-chief. I'm running to be commander-in-chief" the Arizona Republican maintained.
State polls are now showing Senator Obama pulling away with a comfortable lead in Pennsylvania, the must-win state for the Republicans, with at least one survey showing the African American Senator in double digit advantage over his Republican rival.
Political operatives have suggested that McCain must do well in Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania to have a shot at the Presidency in less than seven days. However, some argue that the Arizona senator can win all the three states and still lose the election by the way Senator Obama making up in the Mid-west and the west.
Syria convicts 12 of fomenting sectarian strife
DAMASCUS (AP): A Syrian criminal court on Wednesday convicted 12 dissidents of fomenting sectarian strife and sentenced them to two-and-a-half years in prison, a local human rights group said.
Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria said the defendants are all members of a pro-democracy group known as the Damascus Declaration who were arrested last December.
They were charged with spreading false information and belonging to a secret organization promoting sectarian strife began.
The Damascus Declaration, formed in 2005, is the broadest coalition of opposition figures in Syria. Its signatories have said they want to build internal support for peaceful democratic change in Syria.
The activists were originally sentenced to six years, but the judge reduced the sentence, without giving any reason. The session was attended by diplomats from Western and Arab countries, human rights activists and relatives of the 12 defendants.
The dissidents, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, include Fidaa Horani, the group's head, and Riyadh Seif, a former member of the parliament.
Qurabi's organization expressed ``deep shock'' with the verdicts and called for the immediate release of the defendants, saying they have exercised ``their right of freedom of expression.''
On the eve of their trial, Amnesty International called on Syrian authorities to release the 12 activists whom have been victims of an unfair trial.
``Syria must put an end to its policy of silencing peaceful dissent and punishing people who dare to speak out,'' Philip Luther, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Program, said in a statement Tuesday.
The London-based organization has been calling for an investigation into the allegations of torture and other ill-treatment against some of the activists.
When Syrian President Bashar Assad succeeded his father in 2000, he released hundreds of political prisoners. But he soon clamped down on pro-democracy activists, suggesting there were limits to the level of opposition he was prepared to tolerate.
Swiss banking secrecy lifted in Italian arms probe
BELLINZONA, Switzerland (AP): Switzerland can provide legal assistance to Italian prosecutors investigating an alleged attempt by black market dealers to sell arms to Libya and Iraq, according to a court ruling released on Tuesday.
An Italian citizen and a company alleged to have been involved in setting up the deal had asked the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona to block the release of their bank account details to Italian authorities.
The court dismissed their request.
Prosecutors in the central Italian city of Perugia have been investigating five Italians for illegally dealing in arms and allegedly giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks to Libyan officials.
Italian authorities believe the group was working to sell some 100,000 AK-47 rifles to Iraq and a half-million assault rifles to Libya before police broke up the deals.
Prosecutors in Italy suspect the group brokered the deals through companies in Malta and Cyprus, and allege that bank accounts in Geneva and Lugano were used to funnel bribes to Libyan government officials. They asked Switzerland for details of the transactions.
The Bellinzona court said the request was proportionate to the suspected crime. Swiss banking secrecy laws forbid the release of customers' details unless there is a strong suspicion that a crime has been committed.
The plaintiffs _ not identified in the ruling because of privacy rules _ can appeal the decision to Switzerland's highest court, the Federal Tribunal in Lausanne.
China urges rich nations to help poor fight climate change
Beijing (Xinhua): China Wednesday called on the developed countries to lead the international efforts in fighting climate change and helping developing and poor nations reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Rich and industrialised nations should spend at least 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) in helping developing nations address the climate change, China's cabinet said in a white paper issued Wednesday.
"But till now, their spending is far below the level," Xie Zhenhua, vice director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said while explaining the policy paper to the press.
In the white paper titled "China's Policies and Actions for Addressing Climate Change", the government stated that the developed nations should provide financial support and transfer technologies to help the developing countries fight against global warming.
The developing countries, while developing their economies and fighting poverty, should also actively adopt strong measures, reduce their emissions to the lowest degree and fulfil their duties in addressing climate change, the white paper said.
China and the US are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases, but Beijing has argued that the West bears a greater historical responsibility for global warming and should allow poorer countries to develop their economies and reduce poverty as the world fights climate change.
Xie said developed nations should take the major responsibility for climate change as their greenhouse gas emissions from 1950 to 2000 accounted for 77 percent of the world total.
Underlining that China's emissions accounted for 8 percent of the world total from 1904 to 2004, the official said: "According to our data, China's current total emissions are almost as the same size as that of the US."
"But we should look at the issue fairly and from a historic view."}
"The Chinese government pays high attention to the issue of climate change," he added.
Rizwanur case: CBI gets passport of Todi's cancelled
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has secured suspension of passports of Ashok Todi and his brother for their alleged role in inciting Rizwanur Rehman to suicide last year, a month after his marriage to the industrialist's daughter.
CBI sources said the agency had applied for revocation of their travel documents immediately after they along with three others were chargesheeted by it.
An alert has already been sounded against Todi brothers, who began to face the heat of the law after the Seventh metropolitan magistrate Bhivas Chatterjee of the Metropolitan court issued non-bailable warrants against them as they failed to appear before it on October 27.
The warrants were issued against Ashok Todi, his brother Pradip Todi and brother-in-law Anil Saraogi.
CBI sources said an application for revocation of their passports was moved on September 24, which was approved by the concerned authorities after which a Letter of Cancellation was issued against their travel documents.
The airports and other international departing points in the country have been informed, the sources said.
Besides Todis, the chargesheet names Anil Saraogi, then Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajoy Kumar, then Assistant Commissioner of Police Sukanti Chakraborty, Sub-Inspector Krsihnendu Das and family friend of the victim S M Mohiuddin alias Pappu.
Rizwanur's body was found on railway tracks on September 21, 2007. He had "secretly married" Priyanka Todi, daughter of influential Kolkata businessman Ashok Todi on August 18 last year.
All the accused have been named in the CBI's chargesheet under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 306 and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Retired Army officers played major role in Malegaon blasts
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai police on wednesday alleged two retired and arrested army officers were "a part of the larger conspiracy" and played a "major role" in the Malegaon blast.
The two retired officers arrested on Tuesday Sameer Kulkarni (34) and Ramesh Upadhyay (57) have been remanded to police custody till November 10 by a Nashik court, Additional Commissioner of Police (ATS), Sukhvinder Singh told reporters here today.
They have been booked for attempt to murder under the Indian Explosives Act, he said.
BJP, Shiv Sena seek dismissal of Goa Govt.
Panaji (PTI): The BJP and Shiv Sena have asked the governor to dismiss the Digamber Kamat government alleging that the law and order situation was deteriorating in the state.
While Shiv Sena has already placed the demand before Governor S Sidhu on Tuesday, main opposition BJP is likely to meet him by tomorrow on the issue.
"The Governor can use his powers to dismiss the government as the law and order situation is turning grave in the state," BJP spokesman Damodar Naik told PTI.
Accusing the police of failing to nab those indulging in desecration of religious idols, he expressed fears that it could spark off communal tensions in the state. He also alleged rampant corruption.
The Shiv Sena in its memorandum to the Governor too alleged that several temples, statues and religious structures have been destroyed by miscreants and police have failed to arrest the culprits.
"We briefed the Governor about our demands. He was concerned about the law and order situation," Shiv Sena's Goa Chief Upendra Gaonkar said.
He said the Shiv Sena would follow-up the issue and take to the streets against the government if needed.
Commenting on the disqualification petition filed by NCP minister Fransisco Pacheco against Congress minister Churchill Alemao and legislator Aleixo Lourenco Reginaldo, the BJP leader said ministers were seeking action against their own cabinet colleagues.
VHP leader sent to police custody
Ahmedabad (PTI): A local court in Gandhinagar on Wednesday sent Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashwin Patel to police custody till November 1.
Patel was arrested on Tuesday for circulating "defamatory SMSs" against Chief Minister Narendra Modi and trying to create "social tension" among different communities.
"He was produced in the court today. The court has sent him to police custody till Saturday," police inspector P P Bhatt told PTI.
Bhatt is the complainant in the case against the VHP leader.
Patel, who was arrested yesterday after being charged under various sections of IPC, has also been booked under section 124A (sedition).
His arrest had prompted strong reactions from the leaders of the saffron outfit who alleged that the government and police were "terrorising" their office-bearers and workers.
VHP leader Pravin Togadia had alleged that Patel was "abducted" from a school near VHP headquarters in the city.
Other leaders said that they would approach the Human Rights Commission as Patel's arrest was a "clear case of rights violation".
According to VHP secretary Ranchhod Bharwad, two office- bearers of the outfit, Devjibhai Rawat and Ashwin Patel, received a telephone call on Monday evening and were told to collect some CDs and literary books from a school near VHP office.
However, the police had claimed that they were called for interrogation and subsequently Rawat was released while Patel was placed under arrest.
Swamy demands Chidambaram's resignation
Coimbatore (PTI): Janata Party President Dr Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram for the present 'economic downturn' in the Indian economy and the stock market crash.
Speaking to reporters here,he alleged that Chidambaram was responsible for 90 per cent of the economic crisis and international factors contributed only 10 per cent.
He said that the finance minister had not heeded the warning given by him and AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa not to allow issue of Participatory Notes (PNs).
The PNs, which amounted to about Rs 35,000 crore had 'deserted' the Indian economy, dumping Rupees for the Dollar, resulting in a run on foreign exchange reserves, Swamy alleged.
While the world over the Dollar was falling in value against other currencies, in India it has risen from Rs 39 to Rs 50 in just two weeks, Swamy said.
Special 'yagna' in Coimbatore to ensure Obama's victory
Coimbatore (PTI): Democratic White House nominee Barak Obama has found an unexpected ally thousands of miles away in this city who is conducting special 'yagna' for ensuring his smooth victory in Presidential polls.
An Ayurvedic hospital chief is conducting the yagna since September 26, seeking the blessings of the Gods for Obama's victory.
Topping the yagna is the 'Mrityunjaya Homam', performed for ensuring a healthy and long life of a person, which is being conducted at the Dhanvanthari Temple, attached to the Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (AVP).
"The homam (yagna) is being performed to protect Obama from attacks by enemies or opponents and also for long life," Krishnakumar, Managing Director of AVP, told PTI.
"I have no special interest in Obama. But I was fascinated by his campaigning style when I was in America recently. I got his horoscope, read it carefully and thought of performing some poojas for his victory," he said.
Finding him to be a black, dynamic, poor and above all a pro-Indian, I wanted him to win the elections and voluntarily started poojas, he said.
Besides the main Mrityunjaya Homam, 'Shatru Samhara Pushpanjali' are also being conducted to 'dilute' the powers of his opponents, he said.
These special poojas, which would conclude on November 4, would definitely reflect on his victory, Krishnakumar claimed.
On every Monday, an 'ilanir dhara' on Lord Shiva Idol (anointing with tender coconut water), was also being performed, Krishnakumar added.
Cotton futures down by 1 pc on poor demand
New Delhi (PTI): Cotton futures slipped almost 1per cent on the NCDEX and MCX counters today due to weak export demand.
At 11.30 am, the most-active April 2009 contract fell by almost 1 per cent to Rs 478 per 20 kg on both the commodity bourses.
Spot rates of Shankar-6 variety was trading at Rs 500 per 20 kg in Gujarat.
According to an analyst with Karvy Comtrade, cotton, also known as kapas, is trading down in futures market due to lack of buying.
Export demand still remains weak as overseas buyers are not aggressive due to global financial crisis, he said.
The domestic cotton output is estimated at 322 lakh bales for 2008-09, against 315 bales in the year-ago period. One bale is equal to 170 kg, according to Cotton Advisory Board.
UP mills delay cane crushing; to start from Nov 3rd week
New Delhi (PTI): Sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh are set to start crushing the cane from the third week of November, with mills blaming low cane quality and experts putting it on high state advisory price for the delay.
"Mills will start crushing from third week of November," a top official of the UP sugar mills association said.
He said the delay in crushing, which begins in October, is mainly due to the quality of sugarcane, which is affected by untimely rains in the central region of the state and less rains in western UP.
"The recovery rate of sugarcane has been adversely affected," he added.
The statutory minimum price or the state advisory price (SAP) is payable if there is a minimum of nine per cent recovery rate in sugarcane. It means, for each quintal of sugarcane, at least nine kg of sugar should be produced.
If the recovery rate is higher, farmers receive extra price for the canes.
The industry official also said recovery rate in western UP may be 1-1.5 per cent less in the current season, compared with last year. In 2007-08 (October-September), the recovery rate was 9-9.5 per cent in the region, he added.
However, sugar experts said the main reason for the delay in crushing is not the recovery rate but the high SAP of Rs 140 a quintal fixed by the UP government.
"The UP mills are expecting some reprieve from court and, hence, are delaying the decision on crushing," a senior executive of a leading sugar company said.
Last week, an industry official had said that UP mills would move the Allahabad High Court, after it opens on November 3, to challenge the government's decision on SAP.
Titel / Referat: Blacks in America
Schlagwörter: First worldwar, Garvey, self-confidence, burning, UNIA, Ku Klux Klan, Hausaufgabe, Referat
Blacks in America
1) black movement in general
2) biographie Malcolm X
3) Black Panther Party
4) situation today
1) black movement in general
- in first worldwar: 400.000 black soldiers gave their lives for US- war
- after war, same rank in society
- even more difficult because of economic crises and unemployment
- Cu- Clux Clan (terrororganisation of white racists) founded in years after the abolishion of racial segregation
- members tried to take away self- confidence (Selbstbewußtsein) of the black people, which they got in the years of the war
- measures (Maßnahmen): burning down houses of the blacks (first year after war 11 people were burned down alive), they strangled (erdrosseln) a lot of people (example: first year after war more than 70 black people were strangled by them)
- in this climate the Universal Negro Improvement Association UNIA was founded
- it was founded by Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)
- propaganded: enormous (massenhaft) emigration to Africa (but Africa was under the control of the colonialists)
- his popularity wasn´t result of utopic "Back to Africa movement"
- instead result of his radical condemnation (Verurteilung) of the white racism
civil- rights-movement
- unlike first worldwar it took a few years after second worldwar to build up a big movement of blacks
- to this point there were a few old, conservative, liberal, white- controlled blacks on court, who tried to make something better for the black people
- 1954 apparent (scheinbar) sucess: highest court abolished racial segregation
- said: "That must be stopped in a suitable (angemessen) speed"
- example of "suitable speed": 9 years after this resolution there were only 8% of the black kids in the south who went on mixed schools
- the strong opposition of white racists against this only symbolic improvement resulted in an opposition movement
- the Montgomery Bus Boykott, the Freedom Rides, the sit-ins, the Detroit and Washington marches of 1963 and the Selma to Montomery march, this movement of black youth and black people, with increasing involvement of white youth and other whites shook the world
- part of this movement were: Dr Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks,....
2) Malcolm X
* May, 29 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska
+ February, 13 1965 in Harlem
- mothet: Loise Little
- father: Earl Little
- 6 brothers and sisters
- family early was faced with racism: after 3 months in their house in Omaha, one
night house was burned down
- family went to Lansing
- 1939: Malcolm into home (Heim) because mother in psychiatry
- father killed under a bus
- Malcolm went to sister Ella (Boston), part- time- jobs
- never enough money -> criminal, sold marihuana
- some homosexuell contacts as an "masseur" of a man who could be his father
- had a lot of girlfriends (most white or mulatt) who he exploited (ausnutzen) financially
- 1946 in prison because of theft (Diebstahl), instead jugde: "sexual contacts with white women"
- so he had to go into prison for ten years
- march 1949: became a member of the "Nation of Islam"
- the Islam gave Malcolm the power to create a better, a new life for himself
- 1952: got out of prison
- with payment chanced his name Malcolm Little in Malcolm X
- X of "Nation of Islam": old name= name of a slave, so real name unknown
- when first name multiplied: 2X, 3X,...
- strict rules in NOI: no drugs, no crime, hard work with little sleep and little holidays, no dancing, no cosmetics for women, no TV( but later when Malcolm often was in TV- shows, shows like these were legal)
- men and women weren´t allowed to swim together, sex outside marriage wasn´t legal
- Malcolm submitted himself to these rules, because he was frightend falling back into old way of life
- 1953: he became a preacher,first Philadelphia, then New York
- Elijah Mohammed, leader and prophet of NOI made commercial things with the members of the Cu-Clux-Clan and the American Nazi Party
- example: big piece of land sold only for whites -> blacks roused(empört) ->
want to organize themselves -> going to become members of the NOI-> Elijah Mohammed gets the money for membership
- he practised sex outside marriage often girls under 16, white girls
- Malcolm got out of NOI in 1964
- but he adviced to stay in the "Nation", perhaps he hoped that it could be reformed
- he confessed himself to nationalism, but he interpreted it in a new way: "The aim must be the control of the policy and politicans of the black unity by the blacks and not by the whites and their marionetts."
- following years build up his organisation "Muslim Moschee"
- he traveled: Mekka, South-Arabia, Beirut, Egypt, Nigeria; Ghana; Algier,...
- had a lot of sympathizers, but only a few members
- so he build up a second, unreligious organisation: the OAAU (Organisation of Afro- American- Unity)
- but still deficiency (Mangel) at members and money
- again tour through Africa and the Arab
- made some reports and discussions about racism in the USA and the United Nations
- purpose (Zweck) of journey: propaganda of Malcolm´s ideas, wanted to earn money
- sucess in Egypt and South- Arabia
- on tours/ journeys: protection in advance the NOI, because lot of people wanted to kill him after he got out of NOI
- 13.02.1965: Malcolm wanted to read out his programme of the OAAU in Harlem
- there was ignited a smokebomb, people confused, Malcolm X was shot down
- the murderers are still unknown, but a lot of people speculated that the murderers were members of the NOI
- his organisations broke down after his death
- I think the murderous attack is the best sign of the fact that he was on the right way to build up a big, strong Black- Movement
- the dead Malcolm is much more dangerous for his enemies than the alive Malcolm, because
- he became idol for black youth
- they support his ideas, want to live them
- most famous of these attempts (Versuche) is the attempt of a group of young blacks in Oakland, California:
The Black Panther Party
http://www.abipur.de/hausaufgaben/neu/detail/stat/274033042.html
Neo-Nazis in America: They're Not Just "Hailing" Hitler
By Werner Haas, published May 04, 2007
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close windowMost Americans have seen the bone-chilling images of World War II that show Nazi soldiers marching to war, Adolph Hitler promoting terrorism, and Jews being gassed at concentration camps. However, what most people do not know is that neo-nazism, promoted by neo-nazi organizations, is still found in the United States today. In fact, their numbers are growing. The movement is mostly underground these days, but the norms, values, beliefs, and goals of this subculture are still present in American life. Although it would be nice to discount neo-nazi hate groups altogether, the sad fact is that most of their stances are very similar to those of mainstream Americans. Unfortunately, if one cannot see the warp in their way of thinking, it can become easy to support neo-nazism. By look at how the neo-nazis in America today slightly twist the beliefs of the typical American society, one can truly learn why these organizations are a real danger to the world.
"We demand equality of rights for the American people in its dealing with other nations, and the revocation of the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the World Bank, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund" (National Socialist Movement). The above statement is one with which most American-minded organizations would agree. Equality is an important issue in the America mainstream culture. However, this is point two on the National Socialist Movement's "25 Points of American National Socialism," a governing doctrine catering to neo-nazi members. Taken out of context, this seems to align perfectly to American values, but if one reads the first point on the list, it is apparent how warped this mindset really is. According to the National Socialist Movement, "We demand the union of all Whites into a greater America on the basis of the right of national self-determination." In short, the neo-nazi sentiment is equality, but only if you meet certain requirements, like being white and being heterosexual.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/232936/neonazis_in_america_theyre_not_just.html
American Nazis
Anti-Semitic, Racist, Neo-Nazi Groups in America Today
By Lisa Katz, About.com
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism. The ADL’s annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents found that Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States declined in 2005, but that levels were still a source of concern. More specifically, there were 1,757 reported anti-Semitic incidents in North America 2005, a three percent decline from 2004.
Anti-Semitic incidents included in the Audit comprise physical and verbal assaults, harassment, property defacement, vandalism or other expressions of anti-Jewish sentiment. States with the most total incidents: New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
One trend that has served as a driving force behind the numbers is public activity by organized neo-Nazi and other hate groups.
National Socialist Movement
Today America's largest Neo-Nazi group is the National Socialist Movement (NSM).
NSM is a Minneapolis-based hate group known for its Nazi uniforms and open display of explicit Nazi symbols.
NSM Profile
Leader: Jeff Schoep
Founded: 1974 by Robert Brannen and Cliff Herrington
Ideology: Neo-Nazi
Mission Statement: NSM calls for a "greater America" that would deny citizenship to Jews, non-whites, and homosexuals.
Composition: Mostly young, including racist skinheads; some older members of the American Nazi Party of the 1960s.
Structure: It has a vaguely paramilitary structure, with military ranks for its members.
Character: One of the most explicitly "Nazi-like" neo-Nazi groups, emulating the uniforms and paraphernalia of the Third Reich.
Outreach: NSM Magazine, Web site, literature distribution, conferences and rallies
NSM has outpaced other anti-Semitic groups in both membership and activity.
NSM Activity
NSM has chapters in 32 states.
NSM has absorbed members from various racist and skinhead groups.
The group's activities, ranging from literature distribution to raucous rallies, have proven popular among these young recruits.
NSM has a growing Internet presence that includes online radio and a "news service" geared to white supremacists.
NSM launched its own in-house white power music label, NSM Records.
NSM plans to release an anti-Semitic video game called "ZOG's Nightmare," whose object is to kill minorities and Jews. ZOG is a racist abbreviation for "Zionist Occupied Government."
The NSM holds public events in various cities while dressed in full Nazi regalia and shouting "Seig Heil!" NSM members wear Nazi uniforms and openly display swastikas to a degree unusual even among white supremacists.
Other Anti-Semitic Groups in the United States
In the United States, the Constitutional guarantee for freedom of speech allows political organizations great latitude in expressing Nazi, racist or anti-Semitic ideology. Due to First Amendment restrictions, the federal government generally cracks down on such organizations only after members engage in hate crimes and violence.
Other American Anti-Semitic Groups
American Nazi Party
Aryan Nations
Aryan Brotherhood
Creativity Movement
Jew Watch
Ku Klux Klan
Libertarian National Socialist Green Party
National Alliance
National Independents Movement
National Socialist Party of America
NSDAP-AO
Overthrow.com (Bill White)
Stormfront.org
White Aryan Resistance
On the bright side, U.S.-based racist organizations are a tiny percentage of the population. Generally they are outnumbered at public demonstrations by counter-protesters. And they are quickly prosecuted for any crimes. The U.S. congress passed extra penalties for hate crimes, such as vandalizing a synagogue with a Swastika.
Nevertheless, as the 21st Century begins, NSM and other anti-Semitic movements in America must be carefully watched.
Never again.
http://judaism.about.com/od/americanjewry/a/am_nazis.htm
Hindu nationalism
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Hindu nationalism is a nationalist ideology that sees the modern state of the Republic of India as a Hindu polity [1] ("Hindu Rashtra"), and seeks to preserve the Hindu heritage and opposes preferential treatment for Muslims and Christians. Although the concept of "Hindu Rashtra" has been used in slogans and pamphlets of the Bharatiya Janata Party[citation needed], the main group that promotes this ideology, it has not been clearly and unambiguously defined in any of their literature. The notion of "Hindu principles" (Hindutva) promoted by this group is intended to be inclusive of the multiple indigenous traditions of India, including Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. However these religions do not consider themselves to be Hindu. Hindu nationalism has played a crucial role in the recent history of India and that of Hinduism.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Hindu reform movements
1.2 Savarkar
1.3 Independence movement and Partition of India
2 Hindutva
2.1 Hindu Rashtra
2.2 The Sangh Parivar
2.2.1 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
2.2.2 Vishwa Hindu Parishad
2.2.3 Bharatiya Janata Party
2.2.4 International presence
2.3 Violence
3 References
4 Notes
5 External links
6 See also
[edit] History
[edit] Hindu reform movements
Main article: Hindu reform movements
This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)
Various Hindu reform movements, led by Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and others, originated as a reaction to what was perceived as offensive propaganda of Christian missionaries and forcible conversion to Islam and Christianity[citation needed].
The Arya Samaj was founded by Dayananda Saraswati in the later 19th century to revive Hindu society, which was entrenched deeply in the social schisms of untouchability and sati. The Samaj prescribed a return to the Vedas; they were monotheistic in their approach. Another 19th century revivalist was Swami Vivekananda, a follower of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. The Ramakrishna Mission he founded has grown into one of India's most important community organizations.
Sri AurobindoSri Aurobindo was a nationalist and one of the first to embrace the idea of complete political independence for India, before giving up the struggle to adopt a life devoted to the mystical descent of the supermind consciousness. Both Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo are credited with having found the basis for a vision of freedom and glory for India in the spiritual richness and heritage of Hinduism. Madan Mohan Malviya, a politician with the Congress Party and the founder of the Benares Hindu University, was another prominent figure of the time.
[edit] Savarkar
The term Hindutva and the associated ideology were propounded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a freedom fighter and one of the earliest Hindu nationalists. In his 1923 book Hindutva he defines a Hindu as:
“ He who considers India as both his Fatherland and Holyland ”
He thus defined Hindutva ("Hindu-ness") or Hindu nationalism as different from Hinduism in that it defines a Hindu nation, rather than a religion. The "Hindu nation" is conceived as including Indians belonging to religions like Sikhism and Buddhism (whose sacred sites associated with the founders lie in India), but whether Indian Muslims and Christians also are included, is a point of debate within the Hindu nationalists, as they expect each citizen to express his or her loyalty to the nation. For Savarkar at least, they cannot be Hindus as long as the origins and sacred sites of their religions lie in West Asia.[2] Savarkar identified India as a Hindu Rashtra ("Hindu nation") in terms of culture and heritage. It asserted that all of its people had in history adhered to Hindu religious values, and thus should be identified as Hindus not only as a religion but also as a nationality.
[edit] Independence movement and Partition of India
Main article: Partition of India
[[Image:Marche sel.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Though Gandhi never called himself a nationalist, but he always was a big preacher of Dharma|]
While the Indian National Congress was recognized by a majority of Indians as their representative in the struggle for freedom from the British Raj, Hindu nationalist movements not only desired freedom from European colonialism, but also wanted to avoid a return of the Muslim rule.
National leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak instilled Hindu history, heritage and culture into Indian nationalism and politics during the Indian Independence Movement.
The Partition of India outraged many majority Hindu nationalist politicians and social groups. Savarkar and members of the Hindu Mahasabha were extremely critical of Gandhi's leadership[citation needed]. They accused him of appeasing the Muslims to preserve a unity that in their opinion, did not exist; Savarkar endorsed the concept of the Two-nation theory while disagreeing with it in practice. Some Hindu nationalists also blamed Gandhi for conceding Pakistan to the Muslim League via appeasement. And they were further inflamed when Gandhi conducted a fast-unto-death for the Indian government to give Rs. 55 crores which were due to the Pakistan government, but were being held back due to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947.
After the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, the Sangh Parivar was plunged into distress when the RSS was accused of involvement in his murder. Along with the conspirators and the assassin, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was also arrested. The Court acquitted Savarkar, and the RSS was found be to completely unlinked with the conspirators[citation needed]. The Hindu Mahasabha, of which Godse was a member, lost membership and popularity. The effects of public outrage had a permanent effect on the Hindu Mahasabha, which is now a defunct Hindutva party.
[edit] Hindutva
[edit] Hindu Rashtra
The meaning of the Hindu Rashtra (literally, "Hindu polity")[3], often mentioned in texts on the Bharatiya Janata Party ("Indian Peoples' Party", part of the Sangh Parivar) has been summed up by one of its top leaders, Lal Krishna Advani, as follows. He starts by correctly pointing out that:
“ The term Hindu Rashtra was never used during the Jana Sangh days, neither had it ever been mentioned in any manifesto of the BJP[4] ”
The BJP has never used the term Hindu Rashtra.[5] In contrast with the BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ("National Volunteer Organisation", also known as the RSS, which forms the main arm of the Sangh Parivar) openly espouses the concept of Hindu Rashtra, but RSS statements about this central concept are not much more forthright than Advani's. For example, in a book by H.V. Sheshadri, a senior leader of the RSS writes:
“ As Hindu Rashtra is not a religious concept, it is also not a political concept. It is generally misinterpreted as a theocratic state or a religious Hindu state. Nation (Rashtra) and State (Rajya) are entirely different and should never be mixed up. State is purely a political concept. ... The State changes as the political authority shifts from person to person or party to party. But the people in the Nation remain the same. ”
—K.S. Rao in H. V. Seshadri, ed.:Why Hindu Rashtra?, p.24
The Hindu nation is suggested as something that has always been there and always will exist in the future. It has not been discussed in Hindu nationalist circles as a revolutionary ideal. Hindu nationalists, however, assure the world that the concept of Hindu Rashtra does not contradict the principles of secularism and democracy.[6]
In this somewhat vague definition of a Hindu nation, a Hindu is connoted beyond just as an adherent of Hinduism. For some, the term Hindu is set to encompass the adherents to a culture, that is, the unique Indian culture. For others, however, the definition of Hindu is extended to all Indians as long as they have an ancestral connection to the Hindu Rashtra (ie. the Indian subcontinent). Those proponents have argued that even Muslim and Christian Indians are Hindus, as their ancestors were Hindu, and despite their religion, their culture and heritage is the same as that of India's natural Hindu majority. Many Hindu nationalists also prescribe to a vision of Akhand Bharat (Complete India), wherein the partition of India is reversed to found a nation based on what they consider as India's natural territorial extent in terms of the bonds of history, culture, economy and people.
Advocates of Hindu Rashtra contend that Hinduism's strong legacy of tolerance for diverse philosophies and reform movements, and the root idea of universal human brotherhood is the reason for the country's vibrant fabric of diversity, and thus every person, community and institution is perennially Hindu. In that sense, it is contended that the term Hindu in this case is a synecdoche for all indigenous Indian religions and philosophies. In that vein, some advocates of the "Hindu Rashtra" prefer to think of the concept as inclusive of religions that evolved in India (such as Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism), and thus are believed to be compatible with Indian social ethos. The adherents of the Hindu Rashtra philosophy claim that the English term nation is only a crude translation of the Sanskrit term rashtra. Their term rashtra does not mean a European-type nation with one ethnicity, one common history, one language and one religion. In fact, the proper English translation of 'Hindu rashtra' would be 'Hindu polity' and not 'Hindu nation'.[7]
[edit] The Sangh Parivar
The Sangh Parivar is an umbrella organization of social, religious and political organizations that make up or support directly or indirectly the Hindu nationalist ideology in character and purpose, most who are exponents of Hindutva and other forms of Hindu expression. Today, its is the largest organization of Hindu nationalist expression and activity in India and the world at large. The Sangh Parivar consists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and numerous other organisations in India and across the world.
[edit] Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Main article: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was founded in Nagpur, Maharashtra in 1925 by K.B. Hedgewar, a physician who felt that Hindu social unity was a deeply important foundation for a free India. The RSS stayed out of the freedom struggle as such[citation needed], but promoted a brotherhood amongst its membership, working to erase caste distinctions, and for the upliftment of backward Hindu communities. To this day, the RSS claims to stand for the Hindu nation in terms of culture and social heritage, which it believes Muslims and Christians are naturally a part of, despite their religion, as their ancestors were Hindus and their basic culture and lifestyle is Hindu.
During the 1947 riots and population exchange the RSS organized relief camps for Sikhs and Hindus coming to India from Pakistan. The RSS under its second leader Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar developed a reputation as a socio-cultural organization whose selfless volunteers were always at the forefront of several patriotic endeavors in India. The RSS holds that Christians and Muslims are basically converts from Hinduism and should be reintegrated into the mainstream of Indian Hindu culture other wise leave India. Christianity has had a toehold in India since the middle of the first century[citation needed]-far longer than in many parts of Europe-but Christians still represent less than 2 percent of the population. Muslims, although(13-14%), number somewhere between 138 million [8], however, which makes India the third biggest Muslim country in the world after Indonesia. Pakistan, which was partitioned from India by in 1947, 161 million people mostly muslim.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh renounces the Indian caste system and the practice of Untouchability and works to emancipate the lower castes from persecution and discrimination in India. They have also engaged in numerous relief efforts in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been plagued by terrorism[1].
[edit] Vishwa Hindu Parishad
Main article: Vishwa Hindu Parishad
The RSS also sponsored the creation of independent organizations to open different avenues in forwarding its main mission. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad was organized in 1967 by Hindu religious leaders and RSS members to focus exclusively on reviving the Hindu religion, religious tradition and expanding community unity. The VHP has adopted the Ram Janmabhoomi issue as its own, while preaching against religious conversions and advocating a ban on cow slaughter. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad is one of India's major student organizations, while some labor and farmer unions have also been formed.
[edit] Bharatiya Janata Party
Main article: Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its predecessor the Bharatiya Jana Sangh are considered by observers and critics as the political wing of the RSS. Founded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee in 1951, the Jana Singh transformed into the BJP in 1980, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, both proteges of Mookerjee have led to become one of the largest political parties in India.
The BJP adopted came into power federally within India 1996, but had to give up power after 13 days because of a transfer of the majority. In 1998, the BJP formed the forefront of the National Democratic Alliance and came to power once again. It led India to victory in the Kargil War and was re-elected for a five year term in 1999. The BJP government lost the 2004 Indian General Elections to the now ruling Indian National Congress, nevertheless it continues to have great support under the leadership of Rajnath Singh.
[edit] International presence
Main article: Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh
The RSS and associated Hindu nationalist bodies founded the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh in the 1980s, to foster a sense of common heritage and community discipline amongst expatriate Hindus living in North America and Western Europe. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad also maintains major branch organizations in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and France.
The activities of these bodies mainly work to bring Hindu communities together by sponsoring temple programs, pujas and festivals, and conducting camp programs for young Hindus to learn religious literature, Indian languages and history, to cultivate a sense of identity.
[edit] Violence
See also: Communal violence
On December 6, 1992, a large procession of VHP activists destroyed the Babri Mosque, which has been claimed to have been built over Ram Janmabhoomi, in Ayodhya, the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama.
The VHP and the BJP have been blamed for organizing the mob violence and mass murder attacks on Muslim civilians across the state of Gujarat in 2002 following the burning alive of Hindu pilgrims in the Godhra train burning.
The sequence of events leading to the violence in Godhra, the Muslim attack on the passenger train in Godhra, and the Hindu retalliation is well documented. While the Indian government estimated 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus died in the violence, it is claimed by human rights groups that upwards estimates of 1,000 people and possibly over 2,000 were killed by mobs during this Gujarat riot with tens of thousands of Muslim Gujaratis displaced.[9]
See also: Babri Mosque, 2002 Gujarat violence, Godhra Train Burning, and communal violence
[edit] References
Elst, Koenraad (2005). Decolonizing the Hindu mind. India: Rupa. ISBN 81-7167-519-0.
Blank, Jonah. Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God.
Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar (1923). Hindutva. Delhi, India: Bharati Sahitya Sadan.
Gandhi, Rajmohan. Patel: A Life.
Ainslie T. Embree, ‘The Function of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh: To Define the Hindu Nation’, in Accounting for Fundamentalisms, The Fundamentalism Project 4, ed. Martin E. Marty and R. Scott Appleby (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994), pp. 617–652. (ISBN 0-226-50885-4)
Partha Banerjee, In the Belly of the Beast: The Hindu Supremacist RSS and BJP of India (Delhi: Ajanta, 1998). OCLC 43318775
Walter K. Andersen. ‘Bharatiya Janata Party: Searching for the Hindu Nationalist Face’, In The New Politics of the Right: Neo–Populist Parties and Movements in Established Democracies, ed. Hans–Georg Betz and Stefan Immerfall (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998), pp. 219–232. (ISBN 0-312-21134-1 or ISBN 0-312-21338-7)
[edit] Notes
^ the proper english translation of 'Hindu rashtra' would be 'Hindu polity' and not 'Hindu nation'. as retrieved from para 1, page vi, editors note, The Hindu Phenomenon by Girilal Jain, ISBN no. 81-86112-32-4
^ Elst, Koenraad (2005). Decolonizing the Hindu mind. India: Rupa, 21. ISBN 81-7167-519-0.
^ para 1, page vi, editors note, The Hindu Phenomenon by Girilal Jain, ISBN no. 81-86112-32-4
^ "Advani wants Muslims to identify with 'Hindutva'" (in English), Times of India (2006-01-30).
^ Elst, Koenraad (2005). Decolonizing the Hindu mind. India: Rupa, 480. ISBN 81-7167-519-0.
^ Elst, Koenraad (2005). Decolonizing the Hindu mind. India: Rupa, 480-486. ISBN 81-7167-519-0.
^ para 1, page vi, editors note, The Hindu Phenomenon by Girilal Jain, ISBN no. 81-86112-32-4
^ Islam in India
^ Gujarat riot death toll revealed, BBC report, BJP cites govt statistics to defend Modi, Indian Express, 254 Hindus, 790 Muslims killed in post-Godhra riots,Indiainfo.com, "Talibanization" and "Saffronization" in India, Harvard International Review, Why is Narendra Modi in Wembley?, The Guardian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_nationalism
Manu Smriti
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The Manu Smriti (Sanskrit: ?????????) is a work of Hindu law and ancient Indian society. It is also known as the Laws of Manu. It is one of the nineteen[1] Dharmasastra, which are part of the Smriti literature. It is considered the oldest and one of the most important texts of this genre.[2] Some of these codes of conduct pertain to the caste system and discuss the stages of life for "twice-born" males (the asrama system).[3][4] It explains itself as a discourse given by Sage Manu to rishis who begged him to enlighten them on the topic. There are 2,684 verses divided into twelve chapters.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Dating and historical context
2 Structure of Law Code
3 Views and criticism
4 Notes
5 References
[edit] Dating and historical context
A range of historical opinion generally dates composition of the text any time between 200 BCE and 200 CE.Cite error: Closing missing for tag form" to the second century CE, see: Keay, p. 103. For dating as completed some time between 200 BCE and 100 CE see: Hopkins, p. 74. For probable origination during the second or third centuries AD, see: Kulke and Rothermund, p. 85. For the text as preserved dated to around the 1st century BCE. see: Encyclopedia Britannica Concise, http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9371223/Manu-smrti. Retrieved on 24 June 2007 The dating is significant because the work was written during the period when brahminical tradition was seriously threatened by non-Vedic movements.[6] The Manu Smriti and other dharmashastras and the views of society that they represent were brahminical responses to those threats.[7] After the breakdown of the Maurya and Shunga empires, there was a period of uncertainty that led to renewed interest in traditional social norms.[8] In Thapar's view, "The severity of the Dharma-shastras was doubtless a commentary arising from the insecurity of the orthodox in an age of flux."[9]
The dharma class of texts were also noteworthy because they did not depend on the authority of particular Vedic schools, becoming the starting point of an independent tradition that emphasized dharma itself and not its Vedic origins.[10]
[edit] Structure of Law Code
Manu wrote in the contemporary, simple verse (unlike metrical verse of the preceding Dharmasutras) but incorporated his own unique style, in which he separated each concept with a “transitional verse" (a short segue is used to mark the end of one subject and the beginning of another). Below is the general structure of Manu's law book, as summarized by Patrick Olivelle in his translation: [11]
1. Origin of the World (1.1-119)
2. Sources of the Law (2.1-24)
I have described to you above succinctly the source of the Law, as also the origin of this whole world. Learn now the Laws of the social classes. (2.25)
3. Dharma of the Four Social Classes (2.25-11.266)
3.1 Rules Relating to Law (2.25-10.131)
3.1.1 Rules of Action in Normal Times (2.26-9.336)
3.1.1.1 Fourfold Dharma of a Brahmin (2.26-6.97)
I have explained to you above the fourfold Law of Brahmins, a Law that is holy and brings imperishable rewards after death. Listen now to the Law of kings. (6.97)
3.1.1.2 Rules of Action for a King (7.1-9.325)
I have described above in its entirety the eternal rules of action for the king. What follows, one should understand, are the rules of action for the Vaisyas and Sudras in their proper order. (9.325).
3.1.1.3 Rules of Action for Vaisyas and Sudras (9.325-36)
I have described above the splendid rules of action for the social classes outside times of adversity. Listen now to the rules for them in the proper order for times of adversity. (9.336)
3.1.2 Rules of Action in Times of Adversity (10.1-129)
I have described above the entire set of rules pertaining to the Law of the four classes. Next, I will explain the splendid rules pertaining to penance. (10.131)
3.2 Rules Relating to Penance (11.1-265)
You have described this Law for the four classes in its entirety, O Sinless One! Teach us accurately the ultimate consummation of the fruits of actions. (12.1)
4. Determination Regarding Engagement in Action (12.3-116)
Bhrgu, the son of Manu and the very embodiment of the Law, said to those great seers: ‘Listen to the determination with respect to engagement in action.’ (12.2)
4.1 Fruits of Action (12.3-81)
I have declared to you above all the fruits arising from actions. Listen now to these rules of action for a Brahmin, rules that secure the supreme good. (12.82)
4.2 Rules of Action for Supreme God (12.83-115)
I have explained to you above all the best means of securing the supreme good. A Brahmin who does not deviate from them obtains the highest state. (12.116)
[edit] Views and criticism
The work is considered an important source for sociological, political and historical studies. Manu Smriti is one of the most heavily criticized of the scriptures of Hinduism, having been attacked by colonial scholars, modern liberals, Hindu reformists, Dalit advocates, feminists,[12] , Marxists and certain groups of traditional Hindus, namely Smartas. Much of its criticism stems from its unknown authority, as some believe the text to be authoritative, but others do not. There is also debate over whether the text has suffered from later interpolations of verses.
The Bhagavad Gita contradicts many statements in Manu Smriti, including the fixture of one's Varana at birth, and has always been accorded a higher authority by the people in daily life. In northern/southern India Vaishnavism and Shivaism were the common religious traditions, and the teachings of the Manu Smriti was not as widely followed or well-known.
In 300 BCE, Megasthenes wrote that the people around the Mathura region worshipped Harculas (Hari-Krishna) and followed the Gita as daily life principles. Also Fahn-sain did not mention anything about rigid-ness of the varna systems. Chanakya, the author of Arthashastra, never mentioned any social laws prevailing in the society during the first integrator and Mauryan Emperor Chandragupta's reign.
The Manu Smriti was one of the first Sanskrit texts studied by the British. It was first translated into English by the founder of indology, Sir William Jones. His version was published in 1794.[13] British administrative requirements encouraged their interest in the Dharmashastras, which they believed to be legal codes. In fact, these were not codes of law but norms related to social obligations and ritual requirements.[14] According to Avari:
The text was never universally followed or acclaimed by the vast majority of Indians in their history; it came to the world's attention through a late eighteenth-century translation by Sir William Jones, who mistakenly exaggerated both its antiquity and its importance. Today many of its ideas are popularised as the golden norm of classical Hindu law by Hindu universalists. They are, however, anathema to modern thinkers and particularly feminists.[15]
Surendra Kumar, who counts a total of 2,685 verses, finds that only 1,214 are authentic, the other 1,471 being interpolations on the text.[16] In reply to the criticism of the sudra caste, the verses critical of the sudras and women are considered to be later interpolations, but not later than Adi Shankara (7th-8th century CE). The law in Manu Smriti also appears to be overtly positive towards the brahmin (priest) caste in terms of concessions made in fines and punishments. The stance of the Manu Smriti about women has also been debated. While certain verses such as (III - 55, 56, 57, 59, 62) glorify the position of women, other verses (IX - 3, 17) seem to attack the position and freedom women have. The education of women is also discussed in the text. Certain interpretations of Verse (IX - 18) claim that it discourages women from reading Vedic scriptures. Verse (II - 240), however, allows women to read Vedic scriptures. Similar contradictory phrases are encountered in relation to child marriage in verses (IX - 94) and (IX - 90).
In his book Revolution and Counter-Revolution in India, Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar asserted that Manu Smriti was written by a sage named Brigu during the times of Pushyamitra of Sangha in connection with social pressures caused by the rise of Buddhism.[citation needed] However, historian Romila Thapar considers these claims to be exaggerations. She writes that archaeological evidence casts doubt on the claims of Buddhist persecution by Pushyamitra.[17] Support of the Buddhist faith by the Sungas at some point is suggested by an epigraph on the gateway of Bharhut, which mentions its erection "during the supremacy of the Sungas"[18] Hinduism does not evangelize.[19]
However, not all Hindus agree with the criticisms of the text, or the assertion that the Manu Smriti is not authoritative. Some prominent Hindu figures, such as Swami Dayananda Saraswati and A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, hold the text to be authentic and authoritative.[citation needed] Other admirers of the text have included Annie Besant, P.D. Ouspensky, Pandurang Shastri Athavale and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Friedrich Nietzsche is noted to have said "Close the Bible and open the Manu Smriti. “It has an affirmation of life, a triumphing agreeable sensation in life and that to draw up a lawbook such as Manu means to permit oneself to get the upper hand, to become perfection, to be ambitious of the highest art of living" [20]
[edit] Notes
^ For nineteen Dharmashastras, see: Avari, p. 142.
^ For Manu Smriti as the oldest and most important texts of this genre, see: Flood (1996), p. 56. For Manu Smriti and the Yajñyavalkya Smriti as the two most important early Dharma Shastras, see: Hopkins, p. 74.
^ For discussion of the stages of life (asrama) system and references in Manusmriti, see: Flood (1996), pp. 61-65.
^ For application of the stages of life system (asrama) to "twice-born" Hindu males belonging to the top three castes (Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas, see: Flood (1996), p. 202.
^ For 2,684 verses and twelve chapters, see: Avari, p. 142.
^ For significance of dating during time of non-Vedic movements, see: Hopkins, p. 74. For Manas Dharmashastra as dating to the period which was opening to trade, new ideas, and social movements, see: Thapar, p. 261.
^ For characterization of the Manu Smriti as a response to a perceived threat, see: Hopkins, pp. 74, 84.
^ For significance of post-empire social uncertainty as a factor in the development of the Code of Manas, see: Kulke and Rothermund, p. 85.
^ Tharpar (2002), p. 279.
^ For the dharmashastras, including Manu Smriti, as the starting point for an independent tradition not dependent on Vedic origins, see: Hopkins, p. 74.
^ Olivelle (2004), pp. xxviii-xxix
^ For objections to the work by feminists, see: Avari, pp. 142-143.
^ For Manu Smriti as one of the first Sanskrit texts noted by the British and translation by Sir William Jones in 1794, see: Flood (1996), p. 56.
^ For British interest in Dharmashastras due to administrative needs, and their misinterpretation of them as legal codes rather than as social and ritual texts, see: Thapar (2002), pp. 2-3.
^ Avari, p. 142.
^ Surendra Kumar, Vishuddha Manusmriti, (Arsh Sahitya Prachar Trust, Delhi, Fourth Edition), p. 5.
^ Romila Thapar, Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, Oxford University Press (1960) p. 200.
^ John Marshall, "An Historical and Artistic Description of Sanchi", from A Guide to Sanchi, citing p. 11. Calcutta: Superintendent, Government Printing (1918). Pp. 7-29 on line, Project South Asia.
^ K. V. Rao, Socialism, Secularism, and Democracy in India, pp. 28-30. Nagendra K. Singh, Enforcement of Human Rights in Peace and War and the Future of Humanity, p. 35. Martinus Nijhoff (1986) ISBN 9024733022
^ Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, vol. 1.
[edit] References
Flood, Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43878-0.
Hopkins, Thomas J. (1971). The Hindu Religious Tradition. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Keay, John (2000). India: A History. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 0-8021-3797-0.
Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (1986). A History of India. New York: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 0-88029-577-5.
Olivelle, Patrick (2005). Manu's Code of Law: A Critical Edition and Translation of the Manava-Dharmasastra. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-195-17146-2.
Thapar, Romila (2002). Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24225-4.
Translation by G. Bühler (1886). Sacred Books of the East: The Laws of Manus (Vol. XXV). Oxford. Available online as The Laws of Manu
"The Laws of Manu". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Olivelle, Patrick (2004). The Law Code of Manu. New York: OUP. ISBN 0192802712.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_Smriti"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmriti
Still Separate, Still Unequal:
America's Educational Apartheid
JONATHAN KOZOL / Harper's Magazine v.311, n.1864 1sep2005
The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell.
Collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum at Stockbridge, Mass.
Many Americans who live far from our major cities and who have no firsthand knowledge of the realities to be found in urban public schools seem to have the rather vague and general impression that the great extremes of racial isolation that were matters of grave national significance some thirty-five or forty years ago have gradually but steadily diminished in more recent years. The truth, unhappily, is that the trend, for well over a decade now, has been precisely the reverse. Schools that were already deeply segregated twenty-five or thirty years ago are no less segregated now, while thousands of other schools around the country that had been integrated either voluntarily or by the force of law have since been rapidly resegregating.
Mindfully.org note:
We see the actions and policies of everyone from the president on down to Endicott, and further down to the individual citizen who allows the actions and policies to pass without challenge as the enemies of the state. For the purposes of this comment — the state is any and all people who are citizens, and for simplification, excluding noncitizens.
All people are due equal education and everything else that goes along with maintaining a healthy society. All must have equal health-care, food, water and environments to live in.
In short, nothing less than a paradigm shift is required to facilitate the well-being of society in the USA. All must be free or none will be free.
This may not agree with the reader's opinion , but as we see it, the inequality that exists presently must end if this country is to survive.
It really does come down to that — if the rich continue to hoard wealth and abuse the other 95% of society, then they continually make themselves superfluous. By doing so, they receive the same treatment that they dole out to the less fortunate. This effect is clearly seen throughout the US presently as life as we know it is disintegrating before our eyes and chaos increasingly rules
Those to blame are everyone from the president on down to individual citizens who allow these actions and policies to pass without challenge.
"You're either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem."
— Eldridge Cleaver,
Speech in San Francisco, 1968
In Chicago, by the academic year 2002-2003, 87 percent of public-school enrollment was black or Hispanic; less than 10 percent of children in the schools were white. In Washington, D.C., 94 percent of children were black or Hispanic; less than 5 percent were white. In St. Louis, 82 percent of the student population were black or Hispanic; in Philadelphia and Cleveland, 79 percent; in Los Angeles, 84 percent, in Detroit, 96 percent; in Baltimore, 89 percent. In New York City, nearly three quarters of the students were black or Hispanic.
Even these statistics, as stark as they are, cannot begin to convey how deeply isolated children in the poorest and most segregated sections of these cities have become. In the typically colossal high schools of the Bronx, for instance, more than 90 percent of students (in most cases, more than 95 percent) are black or Hispanic. At John F. Kennedy High School in 2003, 93 percent of the enrollment of more than 4,000 students were black and Hispanic; only 3.5 percent of students at the school were white. At Harry S. Truman High School, black and Hispanic students represented 96 percent of the enrollment of 2,700 students; 2 percent were white. At Adlai Stevenson High School, which enrolls 3,400 students, blacks and Hispanics made up 97 percent of the student population; a mere eight tenths of one percent were white.
A teacher at P.S. 65 in the South Bronx once pointed out to me one of the two white children I had ever seen there. His presence in her class was something of a wonderment to the teacher and to the other pupils. I asked how many white kids she had taught in the South Bronx in her career. "I've been at this school for eighteen years," she said. "This is the first white student I have ever taught."
One of the most disheartening experiences for those who grew up in the years when Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall were alive is to visit public schools today that bear their names, or names of other honored leaders of the integration struggles that produced the temporary progress that took place in the three decades after Brown v. Board of Education, and to find out how many of these schools are bastions of contemporary segregation. It is even more disheartening when schools like these are not in deeply segregated inner-city neighborhoods but in racially mixed areas where the integration of a public school would seem to be most natural, and where, indeed, it takes a conscious effort on the part of parents or school officials in these districts to avoid the integration option that is often right at their front door.
In a Seattle neighborhood that I visited in 2002, for instance, where approximately half the families were Caucasian, 95 percent of students at the Thurgood Marshall Elementary School were black, Hispanic, Native American, or of Asian origin. An African-American teacher at the school told me—not with bitterness but wistfully—of seeing clusters of white parents and their children each morning on the corner of a street close to the school, waiting for a bus that took the children to a predominantly white school.
"At Thurgood Marshall," according to a big wall poster in the school's lobby, "the dream is alive." But school-assignment practices and federal court decisions that have countermanded long-established policies that previously fostered integration in Seattle's schools make the realization of the dream identified with Justice Marshall all but unattainable today. In San Diego there is a school that bears the name of Rosa Parks in which 86 percent of students are black and Hispanic and only some 2 percent are white. In Los Angeles there is a school that bears the name of Dr. King that is 99 percent black and Hispanic, and another in Milwaukee in which black and Hispanic children also make up 99 percent of the enrollment. There is a high school in Cleveland that is named for Dr. King in which black students make up 97 percent of the student body, and the graduation rate is only 35 percent. In Philadelphia, 98 percent of children at a high school named for Dr. King are black. At a middle school named for Dr. King in Boston, black and Hispanic children make up 98 percent of the enrollment.
In New York City there is a primary school named for Langston Hughes (99 percent black and Hispanic), a middle school named for Jackie Robinson (96 percent black and Hispanic), and a high school named for Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the great heroes of the integration movement in the South, in which 98 percent of students are black or Hispanic. In Harlem there is yet another segregated Thurgood Marshall School (also 98 percent black and Hispanic), and in the South Bronx dozens of children I have known went to a segregated middle school named in honor of Paul Robeson in which less than half of one percent of the enrollment was Caucasian.
There is a well-known high school named for Martin Luther King Jr. in New York City too. This school, which I've visited repeatedly in recent years, is located in an upper-middle-class white neighborhood, where it was built in the belief—or hope—that it would draw large numbers of white students by permitting them to walk to school, while only their black and Hispanic classmates would be asked to ride the bus or come by train. When the school was opened in 1975, less than a block from Lincoln Center in Manhattan, "it was seen," according to the New York Times, "as a promising effort to integrate white, black and Hispanic students in a thriving neighborhood that held one of the city's cultural gems." Even from the start, however, parents in the neighborhood showed great reluctance to permit their children to enroll at Martin Luther King, and, despite "its prime location and its name, which itself creates the highest of expectations," notes the Times, the school before long came to be a destination for black and Hispanic students who could not obtain admission into more successful schools. It stands today as one of the nation's most visible and problematic symbols of an expectation rapidly receding and a legacy substantially betrayed.
Perhaps most damaging to any serious effort to address racial segregation openly is the refusal of most of the major arbiters of culture in our northern cities to confront or even clearly name an obvious reality they would have castigated with a passionate determination in another section of the nation fifty years before—and which, moreover, they still castigate today in retrospective writings that assign it to a comfortably distant and allegedly concluded era of the past. There is, indeed, a seemingly agreed-upon convention in much of the media today not even to use an accurate descriptor like "racial segregation" in a narrative description of a segregated school. Linguistic sweeteners, semantic somersaults, and surrogate vocabularies are repeatedly employed. Schools in which as few as 3 or 4 percent of students may be white or Southeast Asian or of Middle Eastern origin, for instance—and where every other child in the building is black or Hispanic—are referred to as "diverse." Visitors to schools like these discover quickly the eviscerated meaning of the word, which is no longer a proper adjective but a euphemism for a plainer word that has apparently become unspeakable.
School systems themselves repeatedly employ this euphemism in describing the composition of their student populations. In a school I visited in the fall of 2004 in Kansas City, Missouri, for example, a document distributed to visitors reports that the school's curriculum "addresses the needs of children from diverse backgrounds." But as I went from class to class, I did not encounter any children who were white or Asian—or Hispanic, for that matter—and when I was later provided with precise statistics for the demographics of the school, I learned that 99.6 percent of students there were African American. In a similar document, the school board of another district, this one in New York State, referred to "the diversity" of its student population and "the rich variations of ethnic backgrounds." But when I looked at the racial numbers that the district had reported to the state, I learned that there were 2,800 black and Hispanic children in the system, 1 Asian child, and 3 whites. Words, in these cases, cease to have real meaning; or, rather, they mean the opposite of what they say.
High school students whom I talk with in deeply segregated neighborhoods and public schools seem far less circumspect than their elders and far more open in their willingness to confront these issues. "It's more like being hidden," said a fifteen-year-old girl named Isabel* I met some years ago in Harlem, in attempting to explain to me the ways in which she and her classmates understood the racial segregation of their neighborhoods and schools. "It's as if you have been put in a garage where, if they don't have room for something but aren't sure if they should throw it out, they put it there where they don't need to think of it again."
* The names of children mentioned in this article have been changed to protect their privacy.
I asked her if she thought America truly did not "have room" for her or other children of her race. "Think of it this way," said a sixteen-year-old girl sitting beside her. "If people in New York woke up one day and learned that we were gone, that we had simply died or left for somewhere else, how would they feel?"
"How do you think they'd feel?" I asked.
"I think they'd he relieved," this very solemn girl replied.
Many educators make the argument today that given the demographics of large cities like New York and their suburban areas, our only realistic goal should be the nurturing of strong, empowered, and well-funded schools in segregated neighborhoods. Black school officials in these situations have sometimes conveyed to me a bitter and clear-sighted recognition that they're being asked, essentially, to mediate and render functional an uncontested separation between children of their race and children of white people living sometimes in a distant section of their town and sometimes in almost their own immediate communities. Implicit in this mediation is a willingness to set aside the promises of Brown and—though never stating this or even thinking of it clearly in these terms—to settle for the promise made more than a century ago in Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 Supreme Court ruling in which "separate but equal" was accepted as a tolerable rationale for the perpetuation of a dual system in American society.
Equality itself—equality alone—is now, it seems, the article of faith to which most of the principals of inner-city public schools subscribe. And some who are perhaps most realistic do not even dare to ask for, or expect, complete equality, which seems beyond the realm of probability for many years to come, but look instead for only a sufficiency of means—"adequacy" is the legal term most often used today—by which to win those practical and finite victories that appear to be within their reach. Higher standards, higher expectations, are repeatedly demanded of these urban principals, and of the teachers and students in their schools, but far lower standards—certainly in ethical respects—appear to be expected of the dominant society that isolates these children in unequal institutions.
Dear Mr. Kozol," wrote the eight-year-old, "we do not have the things you have. You have Clean things. We do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have Parks and we do not have Parks.
You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing. Can you help us?"
The letter, from a child named Alliyah, came in a flit envelope of twenty-seven letters from a class of third-grade children in the Bronx. Other letters that the students in Alliyah's classroom sent me registered some of the same complaints. "We don't have no gardens," "no Music or Art," and "no fun places to play," one child said. "Is there a way to fix this Problem?" Another noted a concern one hears from many children in such overcrowded schools: "We have a gym but it is for lining up. I think it is not fair." Yet another of Alliyah's classmates asked me, with a sweet misspelling, if I knew the way to make her school into a "good" school—"like the other kings have"—and ended with the hope that I would do my best to make it possible for "all the kings" to have good schools.
The letter that affected me the most, however, had been written by a child named Elizabeth. "It is not fair that other kids have a garden and new things. But we don't have that," said Elizabeth. "I wish that this school was the most beautiful school in the whole why world."
"The whole why world" stayed in my thoughts for days. When I later met Elizabeth, I brought her letter with me, thinking I might see whether, in reading it aloud, she'd change the "why" to "wide" or leave it as it was. My visit to her class, however, proved to he so pleasant, and the children seemed so eager to bombard me with their questions about where I lived, and why I lived there rather than in New York, and who I lived with, and how many dogs I had, and other interesting questions of that sort, that I decided not to interrupt the nice reception they had given me with questions about usages and spelling. I left "the whole why world" to float around unedited and unrevised in my mind. The letter itself soon found a resting place on the wall above my desk.
In the years before I met Elizabeth, I had visited many other schools in the South Bronx and in one northern district of the Bronx as well. I had made repeated visits to a high school where a stream of water flowed down one of the main stairwells on a rainy afternoon and where green fungus molds were growing in the office where the students went for counseling. A large blue barrel was positioned to collect rain-water coming through the ceiling. In one makeshift elementary school housed in a former skating rink next to a funeral establishment in yet another nearly all-black-and-Hispanic section of the Bronx, class size rose to thirty-four and more; four kindergarten classes and a sixth-grade class were packed into a single room that had no windows. The air was stifling in many rooms, and the children had no place for recess because there was no outdoor playground and no indoor gym.
In another elementary school, which had been built to hold 1,000 children hut was packed to bursting with some 1,500, the principal poured out his feelings to me in a room in which a plastic garbage hag had been attached somehow to cover part of the collapsing ceiling. "This," he told me, pointing to the garbage bag, then gesturing around him at the other indications of decay and disrepair one sees in ghetto schools much like it elsewhere, "would not happen to white children." Libraries, once one of the glories of the New York City school system, were either nonexistent or, at best, vestigial in large numbers of the elementary schools. Art and music programs had also for the most part disappeared. "When I began to teach in 1969," the principal of an elementary school in the South Bronx reported to me, "every school had a full-time licensed art and music teacher and librarian." During the subsequent decades, he recalled, "I saw all of that destroyed."
School physicians also were removed from elementary schools during these years. In 1970, when substantial numbers of white children still attended New York City's public schools, 400 doctors had been present to address the health needs of the children. By 1993 the number of doctors had been cut to 23, most of them part-time—a cutback that affected most severely children in the city's poorest neighborhoods, where medical facilities were most deficient and health problems faced by children most extreme. Teachers told me of asthmatic children who came into class with chronic wheezing and who at any moment of the day might undergo more serious attacks, but in the schools I visited there were no doctors to attend to them.
In explaining these steep declines in services, political leaders in New York tended to point to shifting economic factors, like a serious budget crisis in the middle 1970s, rather than to the changing racial demographics of the student population. But the fact of economic ups and downs from year to year, or from one decade to the next, could not convincingly explain the permanent shortchanging of the city's students, which took place routinely in good economic times and bad. The bad times were seized upon politically to justify the cuts, and the money was never restored once the crisis years were past.
"If you close your eyes to the changing racial composition of the schools and look only at budget actions and political events," says Noreen Connell, the director of the nonprofit Educational Priorities Panel in New York, "you're missing the assumptions that are underlying these decisions." When minority parents ask for something better for their kids, she says, "the assumption is that these are parents who can be discounted. These are kids who just don't count—children we don't value."
This, then, is the accusation that Alliyah and her classmates send our way: "You have ... We do not have." Are they right or are they wrong? Is this a case of naive and simplistic juvenile exaggeration? What does a third-grader know about these big-time questions of fairness and justice? Physical appearances apart, how in any case do you begin to measure something so diffuse and vast and seemingly abstract as having more, or having less, or not having at all?
Around the time I met Alliyah in the school year 1997-1998, New York's Board of Education spent about $8,000 yearly on the education of a third-grade child in a New York City public school. If you could have scooped Alliyah up out of the neighborhood where she was born and plunked her down in a fairly typical white suburb of New York,she would have received a public education worth about $12,000 a year. If you were to lift her up once more and set her down in one of the wealthiest white suburbs of New York, she would have received as much as $18,000 worth of public education every year and would likely have had a third-grade teacher paid approximately $30,000 more than her teacher in the Bronx was paid.
The dollars on both sides of the equation have increased since then, but the discrepancies between them have remained. The present per-pupil spending level in the New York City schools is $11,700, which may be compared with a per-pupil spending level in excess of $22,000 in the well-to-do suburban district of Manhasset, Long Island. The present New York City level is, indeed, almost exactly what Manhasset spent per pupil eighteen years ago, in 1987, when that sum of money bought a great deal more in services and salaries than it can buy today. In dollars adjusted for inflation, New York City has not yet caught up to where its wealthiest suburbs were a quarter-century ago.
Gross discrepancies in teacher salaries between the city and its affluent white suburbs have remained persistent as well. In 1997 the median salary for teachers in Alliyah's neighborhood was $43,000, as compared with $74,000 in suburban Rye, $77,000 in Manhasset, and $81,000 in the town of Scarsdale, which is only about eleven miles from Alliyah's school. Five years later, in 2002, salary scales for New York City's teachers rose to levels that approximated those within the lower-spending districts in the suburbs, but salary scales do not reflect the actual salaries that teachers typically receive, which are dependent upon years of service and advanced degrees. Salaries for first-year teachers in the city were higher than they'd been four years before, but the differences in median pay between the city and its upper-middle-income suburbs had remained extreme. The overall figure for New York City in 2002-2003 was $53,000, while it had climbed to $87,000 in Manhasset and exceeded $95,000 in Scarsdale.
There are expensive children and there are cheap children," writes Marina Warner, an essayist and novelist who has written many books for children, "just as there are expensive women and cheap women." The governmentally administered diminishment in value of the children of the poor begins even before the age of five or six, when they begin their years of formal education in the public schools. It starts during their infant and toddler years, when hundreds of thousands of children of the very poor in much of the United States are locked out of the opportunity for preschool education for no reason but the accident of birth and budgetary choices of the government, while children of the privileged are often given veritable feasts of rich developmental early education.
In New York City, for example, affluent parents pay surprisingly large sums of money to enroll their youngsters, beginning at the age of two or three, in extraordinary early-education programs that give them social competence and rudimentary pedagogic skills unknown to children of the same age in the city's poorer neighborhoods. The most exclusive of the private preschools in New York, which are known to those who can afford them as "Baby Ivies," cost as much as $24,000 for a full-day program. Competition for admission to these pre-K schools is so extreme that private counselors are frequently retained, at fees as high as $300 an hour, to guide the parents through the application process.
At the opposite extreme along the economic spectrum in New York are thousands of children who receive no preschool opportunity at all. Exactly how many thousands are denied this opportunity in New York City and in other major cities is almost impossible to know. Numbers that originate in governmental agencies in many states are incomplete and imprecise and do not always differentiate with clarity between authentic pre-K programs that have educative and developmental substance and those less expensive child-care arrangements that do not. But even where states do compile numbers that refer specifically to educative preschool programs, it is difficult to know how many of the children who are served are of low income, since admissions to some of the state-supported programs aren't determined by low income or they are determined by a complicated set of factors of which poverty is only one.
There are remarkable exceptions to this pattern in some sections of the nation. In Milwaukee, for example, virtually every four-year-old is now enrolled in a preliminary kindergarten program, which amounts to a full year of preschool education, prior to a second kindergarten year for five-year-olds. More commonly in urban neighborhoods, large numbers of low-income children are denied these opportunities and come into their kindergarten year without the minimal social skills that children need in order to participate in class activities and without even such very modest early-learning skills as knowing how to hold a crayon or a pencil, identify perhaps a couple of shapes and colors, or recognize that printed pages go from left to right.
Three years later, in third grade, these children are introduced to what are known as "high-stakes tests," which in many urban systems now determine whether students can or cannot be promoted. Children who have been in programs like those offered by the "Baby Ivies" since the age of two have, by now, received the benefits of six or seven years of education, nearly twice as many as the children who have been denied these opportunities; yet all are required to take, and will be measured by, the same examinations. Which of these children will receive the highest scores? The ones who spent the years from two to four in lovely little Montessori programs and in other pastel-painted settings in which tender and attentive and well-trained instructors read to them from beautiful storybooks and introduced them very gently for the first time to the world of numbers and the shapes of letters, and the sizes and varieties of solid objects, and perhaps taught them to sort things into groups or to arrange them in a sequence, or to do those many other interesting things that early childhood specialists refer to as prenumeracy skills? Or the ones who spent those years at home in front of a TV or sitting by the window of a slum apartment gazing down into the street? There is something deeply hypocritical about a society that holds an eight-year-old inner-city child "accountable" for her performance on a high-stakes standardized exam but does not hold the high officials of our government accountable for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years earlier.
Perhaps in order to deflect these recognitions, or to soften them somewhat, many people, even while they do nor doubt the benefit of making very large investments in the education of their own children, somehow—paradoxical as it may seem—appear to be attracted to the argument that money may not really matter that much at all. No matter with what regularity such doubts about the worth of spending money on a child's education are advanced, it is obvious that those who have the money, and who spend it lavishly to benefit their own kids, do not do it for no reason. Yet shockingly large numbers of well-educated and sophisticated people whom I talk with nowadays dismiss such challenges with a surprising ease. "Is the answer really to throw money into these dysfunctional and failing schools?" I'm often asked. "Don't we have some better ways to make them `work'?" The question is posed in a variety of forms. "Yes, of course, it's not a perfectly fair system as it stands. But money alone is surely not the sole response. The values of the parents and the kids themselves must have a role in this as well you know, housing, health conditions, social factors." "Other factors"—a term of overall reprieve one often hears—"have got to be considered, too." These latter points are obviously true but always seem to have the odd effect of substituting things we know we cannot change in the short run for obvious solutions like cutting class size and constructing new school buildings or providing universal preschool that we actually could put in place right now if we were so inclined.
Frequently these arguments are posed as questions that do not invite an answer because the answer seems to be decided in advance. "Can you really buy your way to better education for these children?" "Do we know enough to be quite sure that we will see an actual return on the investment that we make?" "Is it even clear that this is the right starting point to get to where we'd like to go? It doesn't always seem to work, as I am sure that you already know," or similar questions that somehow assume I will agree with those who ask them.
Some people who ask these questions, although they live in wealthy districts where the schools are funded at high levels, don't even send their children to these public schools but choose instead to send them to expensive private day schools. At some of the well-known private prep schools in the New York City area, tuition and associated costs are typically more than $20,000 a year. During their children's teenage years, they sometimes send them off to very fine New England schools like Andover or Exeter or Groton, where tuition, boarding, and additional expenses rise to more than $30,000. Often a family has two teenage children in these schools at the same time, so they may be spending more than $60,000 on their children's education every year. Yet here I am one night, a guest within their home, and dinner has been served and we are having coffee now; and this entirely likable, and generally sensible, and beautifully refined and thoughtful person looks me in the eyes and asks me whether you can really buy your way to better education for the children of the poor.
As racial isolation deepens and the inequalities of education finance remain unabated and take on new and more innovative forms, the principals of many inner-city schools are making choices that few principals in public schools that serve white children in the mainstream of the nation ever need to contemplate. Many have been dedicating vast amounts of time and effort to create an architecture of adaptive strategies that promise incremental gains within the limits inequality allows.
New vocabularies of stentorian determination, new systems of incentive, and new modes of castigation, which are termed "rewards and sanctions," have emerged. Curriculum materials that are alleged to be aligned with governmentally established goals and standards and particularly suited to what are regarded as "the special needs and learning styles" of low-income urban children have been introduced. Relentless emphasis on raising test scores, rigid policies of nonpromotion and nongraduation, a new empiricism and the imposition of unusually detailed lists of named and numbered "outcomes" for each isolated parcel of instruction, an oftentimes fanatical insistence upon uniformity of teachers in their management of time, an openly conceded emulation of the rigorous approaches of the military and a frequent use of terminology that comes out of the world of industry and commerce—these are just a few of the familiar aspects of these new adaptive strategies.
Although generically described as "school reform," most of these practices and policies are targeted primarily at poor children of color; and although most educators speak of these agendas in broad language that sounds applicable to all, it is understood that they are valued chiefly as responses to perceived catastrophe in deeply segregated and unequal schools.
"If you do what I tell you to do, how I tell you to do it, when I tell you to do it, you'll get it right," said a determined South Bronx principal observed by a reporter for the New York Times. She was laying out a memorizing rule for math to an assembly of her students. "If you don't, you'll get it wrong." This is the voice, this is the tone, this is the rhythm and didactic certitude one hears today in inner-city schools that have embraced a pedagogy of direct command and absolute control. "Taking their inspiration from the ideas of B. F. Skinner...," says the Times, proponents of scripted rote-and-drill curricula articulate their aim as the establishment of "faultless communication" between "the teacher, who is the stimulus," and "the students, who respond."
The introduction of Skinnerian approaches (which are commonly employed in penal institutions and drug-rehabilitation programs), as a way of altering the attitudes and learning styles of black and Hispanic children, is provocative, and it has stirred some outcries from respected scholars. To actually go into a school where you know some of the children very, very well and see the way that these approaches can affect their daily lives and thinking processes is even more provocative.
On a chilly November day four years ago in the South Bronx, I entered P.S. 65, a school I had been visiting since 1993. There had been major changes since I'd been there last. Silent lunches had been instituted in the cafeteria, and on days when children misbehaved, silent recess had been introduced as well. On those days the students were obliged to sit in rows and maintain perfect silence on the floor of a small indoor room instead of going out to play. The words SUCCESS FOR ALL, the brand name of a scripted curriculum—better known by its acronym, SPA—were prominently posted at the top of the main stairway and, as I would later find, in almost every room. Also frequently displayed within the halls and classrooms were a number of administrative memos that were worded with unusual didactic absoluteness. "Authentic Writing," read a document called "Principles of Learning" that was posted in the corridor close to the principal's office, "is driven by curriculum and instruction." I didn't know what this expression meant. Like many other undefined and arbitrary phrases posted in the school, it seemed to be a dictum that invited no interrogation.
I entered the fourth grade of a teacher I will call Mr. Endicott, a man in his mid-thirties who had arrived here without training as a teacher, one of about a dozen teachers in the building who were sent into this school after a single summer of short-order preparation. Now in his second year, he had developed a considerable sense of confidence and held the class under a tight control.
As I found a place to sit in a far corner of the room, the teacher and his young assistant, who was in her first year as a teacher, were beginning a math lesson about building airport runways, a lesson that provided children with an opportunity for measuring perimeters. On the wall behind the teacher, in large letters, was written: "Portfolio Protocols: 1. You are responsible for the selection of [your] work that enters your portfolio. 2. As your skills become more sophisticated this year, you will want to revise, amend, supplement, and possibly replace items in your portfolio to reflect your intellectual growth." On the left side of the room: "Performance Standards Mathematics Curriculum: M-5 Problem Solving and Reasoning. M-6 Mathematical Skills and Tools ..."
My attention was distracted by some whispering among the children sitting to the right of me. The teacher's response to this distraction was immediate: his arm shot out and up in a diagonal in front of him, his hand straight up, his fingers flat. The young co-teacher did this, too. When they saw their teachers do this, all the children in the classroom did it, too.
"Zero noise," the teacher said, but this instruction proved to be unneeded. The strange salute the class and teachers gave each other, which turned out to be one of a number of such silent signals teachers in the school were trained to use, and children to obey, had done the job of silencing the class.
"Active listening!" said Mr. Endicott. "Heads up! Tractor beams!" which meant, "Every eye on inc."
On the front wall of the classroom, in hand-written words that must have taken Mr. Endicott long hours to transcribe, was a list of terms that could be used to praise or criticize a student's work in mathematics. At Level Four, the highest of four levels of success, a child's "problem-solving strategies" could be described, according to this list, as "systematic, complete, efficient, and possibly elegant," while the student's capability to draw conclusions from the work she had completed could be termed "insightful" or "comprehensive." At Level Two, the child's capability to draw conclusions was to be described as "logically unsound"; at Level One, "not present." Approximately 50 separate categories of proficiency, or lack of such, were detailed in this wall-sized tabulation.
A well-educated man, Mr. Endicott later spoke to me about the form of classroom management that he was using as an adaptation from a model of industrial efficiency. "It's a kind of `Taylorism' in the classroom," he explained, referring to a set of theories about the management of factory employees introduced by Frederick Taylor in the early 1900s. "Primitive utilitarianism" is another term he used when we met some months later to discuss these management techniques with other teachers from the school. His reservations were, however, not apparent in the classroom. Within the terms of what he had been asked to do, he had, indeed, become a master of control. It is one of the few classrooms I had visited up to that time in which almost nothing even hinting at spontaneous emotion in the children or the teacher surfaced while I was there.
The teacher gave the "zero noise" salute again when someone whispered to another child at his table. "In two minutes you will have a chance to talk and share this with your partner." Communication between children in the class was not prohibited but was afforded time slots and, remarkably enough, was formalized in an expression that I found included in a memo that was posted on the wall beside the door: "An opportunity . . . to engage in Accountable Talk."
Even the teacher's words of praise were framed in terms consistent with the lists that had been posted on the wall. "That's a Level Four suggestion," said the teacher when a child made an observation other teachers might have praised as simply "pretty good" or "interesting" or "mature." There was, it seemed, a formal name for every cognitive event within this school: "Authentic Writing," "Active Listening," "Accountable Talk." The ardor to assign all items of instruction or behavior a specific name was unsettling me. The adjectives had the odd effect of hyping every item of endeavor. "Authentic Writing" was, it seemed, a more important act than what the children in a writing class in any ordinary school might try to do. "Accountable Talk" was some thing more self-conscious and significant than merely useful conversation.
Since that day at P.S. 65, I have visited nine other schools in six different cities where the same Skinnerian curriculum is used. The signs on the walls, the silent signals, the curious salute, the same insistent naming of all cognitive particulars, became familiar as I went from one school to the next.
"Meaningful Sentences," began one of the many listings of proficiencies expected of the children in the fourth grade of an inner-city elementary school in Hartford (90 percent black, 10 percent Hispanic) that I visited a short time later. "Noteworthy Questions," "Active Listening," and other designations like these had been posted elsewhere in the room. Here, too, the teacher gave the kids her outstretched arm, with hand held up, to reestablish order when they grew a little noisy, but I noticed that she tried to soften the effect of this by opening her fingers and bending her elbow slightly so it did not look quite as forbidding as the gesture Mr. Endicott had used. A warm and interesting woman, she later told me she disliked the regimen intensely.
Over her desk, I read a "Mission Statement," which established the priorities and values for the school. Among the missions of the school, according to the printed statement, which was posted also in some other classrooms of the school, was "to develop productive citizens" who have the skills that will be needed "for successful global competition," a message that was reinforced by other posters in the room. Over the heads of a group of children at their desks, a sign anointed them BEST WORKERS OF 2002.
Another signal now was given by the teacher, this one not for silence but in order to achieve some other form of class behavior, which I could not quite identify. The students gave exactly the same signal in response. Whatever the function of this signal, it was done as I had seen it done in the South Bronx and would see it done in other schools in months to come. Suddenly, with a seeming surge of restlessness and irritation—with herself, as it appeared, and with her own effective use of all the tricks that she had learned—she turned to me and said, "I can do this with my dog."
There's something crystal clear about a number," says a top adviser to the U.S. Senate committee that has jurisdiction over public education, a point of view that is reinforced repeatedly in statements coming from the office of the U.S. education secretary and the White House. "I want to change the face of reading instruction across the United States from an art to a science," said an assistant to Rod Paige, the former education secretary, in the winter of 2002. This is a popular position among advocates for rigidly sequential systems of instruction, but the longing to turn art into science doesn't stop with reading methodologies alone. In many schools it now extends to almost every aspect of the operation of the school and of the lives that children lead within it. In some schools even such ordinary acts as children filing to lunch or recess in the hallways or the stairwells are subjected to the same determined emphasis upon empirical precision.
"Rubric For Filing" is the printed heading of a lengthy list of numbered categories by which teachers are supposed to grade their students on the way they march along the corridors in another inner-city district I have visited. Some one, in this instance, did a lot of work to fit the filing proficiencies of children into no more and no less than thirty-two specific slots:
"Line leader confidently leads the class.... Line is straight....Spacing is right.... The class is stepping together... . Everyone shows pride, their shoulders high ...no slumping," according to the strict criteria for filing at Level Four.
"Line is straight, but one or two people [are] not quite in line," according to the box for Level Three. "Line leader leads the class," and "almost everyone shows pride."
"Several are slumping.... Little pride is showing," says the box for Level Two. "Spacing is uneven.... Some are talking and whispering."
"Line leader is paying no attention," says the box for Level One. "Heads are turning every way. ...Hands are touching.... The line is not straight. ...There is no pride."
The teacher who handed me this document believed at first that it was written as a joke by someone who had simply come to he fed up with all the numbers and accounting rituals that clutter up the day in many overregulated schools. Alas, it turned out that it was no joke but had been printed in a handbook of instructions for the teachers in the city where she taught.
In some inner-city districts, even the most pleasant and old-fashioned class activities of elementary schools have now been overtaken by these ordering requirements. A student teacher in California, for example, wanted to bring a pumpkin to her class on Halloween but knew it had no ascertainable connection to the California standards. She therefore had developed what she called "The Multi-Modal Pumpkin Unit" to teach science (seeds), arithmetic (the size and shape of pumpkins, I believe—this detail wasn't clear), and certain items she adapted out of language arts, in order to position "pumpkins" in a frame ofstate proficiencies. Even with her multi-modal pumpkin, as her faculty adviser told me, she was still afraid she would be criticized because she knew the pumpkin would not really help her children to achieve expected goals on state exams.
Why, I asked a group of educators at a seminar in Sacramento, was a teacher being placed in a position where she'd need to do preposterous curricular gymnastics to enjoy a bit of seasonal amusement with her kids on Halloween? How much injury to state-determined "purpose" would it do to let the children of poor people have a pumpkin party once a year for no other reason than because it's something fun that other children get to do on autumn days in public schools across most of America?
"Forcing an absurdity on teachers does teach something," said an African-American professor. "It teaches acquiescence. It breaks down the will to thumb your nose at pointless protocols to call absurdity `absurd.'" Writing out the standards with the proper numbers on the chalkboard has a similar effect, he said; and doing this is "terribly important" to the principals in many of these schools. "You have to post the standards, and the way you know the children know the standards is by asking them to state the standards. And they do it—and you want to he quite certain that they do it if you want to keep on working at that school."
In speaking of the drill-based program in effect at P.S. 65, Mr. Endicott told me he tended to be sympathetic to the school administrators, more so at least than the other teachers I had talked with seemed to he. He said he believed his principal had little choice about the implementation of this program, which had been mandated for all elementary schools in New York City that had had rock-bottom academic records over a long period of time. "This puts me into a dilemma," he went on, "because I love the kids at P.S. 65." And even while, he said, "I know that my teaching SFA is a charade ... if I don't do it I won't be permitted to teach these children."
Mr. Endicott, like all but two of the new recruits at P.S. 65—there were about fifteen in all—was a white person, as were the principal and most of the administrators at the school. As a result, most of these neophyte instructors had had little or no prior contact with the children of an inner-city neighborhood; but, like the others I met, and despite the distancing between the children and their teachers that resulted from the scripted method of instruction, he had developed close attachments to his students and did not want to abandon them. At the same time, the class- and race-specific implementation of this program obviously troubled him. "There's an expression now," he said. "'The rich get richer, and the poor get SFA."' He said he was still trying to figure out his "professional ethics" on the problem that this posed for him.
White children made up "only about one percent" of students in the New York City schools in which this scripted teaching system was imposed,2 according to the New York Times, [Fearing a Class System in the Classroom; A Strict Curriculum, but Only for Failing Schools, Mostly in Poor Areas of New York - New York Times 19jan03] which also said that "the prepackaged lessons" were intended "to ensure that all teachers—even novices or the most inept"—would be able to teach reading. As seemingly pragmatic and hardheaded as such arguments may be, they are desperation strategies that come out of the acceptance of inequity. If we did not have a deeply segregated system in which more experienced instructors teach the children of the privileged and the least experienced are sent to teach the children of minorities, these practices would not be needed and could not be so convincingly defended. They are confections of apartheid, and no matter by what arguments of urgency or practicality they have been justified, they cannot fail to further deepen the divisions of society.
2 SFA has since been discontinued in the New York City public schools, though it is still being used in 1,300 U.S. schools, serving as many as 650,000 children. Similar scripted systems are used in schools (overwhelmingly minority in population) serving several million children.
There is no misery index for the children of apartheid education. There ought to be; we measure almost everything else that happens to them in their schools. Do kids who go to schools like these enjoy the days they spend in them? Is school, for most of them, a happy place to be? You do not find the answers to these questions in reports about achievement levels, scientific methods of accountability, or structural revisions in the modes of governance. Documents like these don't speak of happiness. You have to go back to the schools themselves to find an answer to these questions. You have to sit down in the little chairs in first and second grade, or on the reading rug with kindergarten kids, and listen to the things they actually say to one another and the dialogue between them and their teachers. You have to go down to the basement with the children when it's time for lunch and to the playground with them, if they have a playground, when it's time for recess, if they still have recess at their school. You have to walk into the children's bathrooms in these buildings. You have to do what children do and breathe the air the children breathe. I don't think that there is any other way to find out what the lives that children lead in school are really like.
High school students, when I first meet them, are often more reluctant than the younger children to open up and express their personal concerns; but hesitation on the part of students did not prove to be a problem when I visited a tenth-grade class at Fremont High School in Los Angeles. The students were told that I was a writer, and they took no time in getting down to matters that were on their minds.
"Can we talk about the bathrooms?" asked a soft-spoken student named Mireya.
In almost any classroom there are certain students who, by the force of their directness or the unusual sophistication of their way of speaking, tend to capture your attention from the start. Mireya later spoke insightfully about some of the serious academic problems that were common in the school, but her observations on the physical and personal embarrassments she and her schoolmates had to under go cut to the heart of questions of essential dignity that kids in squalid schools like this one have to deal with all over the nation.
Fremont High School, as court papers filed in a lawsuit against the state of California document, has fifteen fewer bathrooms than the law requires. Of the limited number of bathrooms that are working in the school, "only one or two . . . are open and unlocked for girls to use." Long lines of girls are "waiting to use the bathrooms," which are generally "unclean" and "lack basic supplies," including toilet paper. Some of the classrooms, as court papers also document, "do not have air conditioning," so that students, who attend school on a three-track schedule that runs year-round, "become red-faced and unable to concentrate" during "the extreme heat of summer." The school's maintenance records report that rats were found in eleven classrooms. Rat droppings were found "in the bins and drawers" of the high school's kitchen, and school records note that "hamburger buns" were being "eaten off [the] bread-delivery rack."
No matter how many tawdry details like these I've read in legal briefs or depositions through the years, I'm always shocked again to learn how often these unsanitary physical conditions are permitted to continue in the schools that serve our poorest students—even after they have been vividly described in the media. But hearing of these conditions in Mireya's words was even more unsettling, in part because this student seemed so fragile and because the need even to speak of these indignities in front of me and all the other students was an additional indignity.
"The problem is this," she carefully explained. "You're not allowed to use the bathroom during lunch, which is a thirty-minute period. The only time that you're allowed to use it is between your classes." But "this is a huge building," she went on. "It has long corridors. If you have one class at one end of the building and your next class happens to be way down at the other end, you don't have time to use the bathroom and still get to class before it starts. So you go to your class and then you ask permission from your teacher to go to the bathroom and the teacher tells you, `No. You had your chance between the periods ...'
"I feel embarrassed when I have to stand there and explain it to a teacher."
"This is the question," said a wiry-looking boy named Edward, leaning forward in his chair. "Students are not animals, but even animals need to relieve themselves sometimes. We're here for eight hours. What do they think we're supposed to do?"
"It humiliates you," said Mireya, who went on to make the interesting statement that "the school provides solutions that don't actually work," and this idea was taken up by several other students in describing course requirements within the school. A tall black student, for example, told me that she hoped to be a social worker or a doctor but was programmed into "Sewing Class" this year. She also had to take another course, called "Life Skills," which she told me was a very basic course—"a retarded class," to use her words—that "teaches things like the six continents," which she said she'd learned in elementary school.
When I asked her why she had to take these courses, she replied that she'd been told they were required, which as I later learned was not exactly so. What was required was that high school students take two courses in an area of study called "The Technical Arts," and which the Los Angeles Board of Education terms "Applied Technology." At schools that served the middle class or upper-middle class, this requirement was likely to be met by courses that had academic substance and, perhaps, some relevance to college preparation. At Beverly Hills High School, for example, the technical-arts requirement could be fulfilled by taking subjects like residential architecture, the designing of commercial structures, broadcast journalism, advanced computer graphics, a sophisticated course in furniture design, carving and sculpture, or an honors course in engineering research and design. At Fremont High, in contrast, this requirement was far more often met by courses that were basically vocational and also obviously keyed to low-paying levels of employment.
Mireya, for example, who had plans to go to college, told me that she had to take a sewing class last year and now was told she'd been assigned to take a class in hair-dressing as well. When I asked her teacher why Mireya could not skip these subjects and enroll in classes that would help her to pursue her college aspirations, she replied, "It isn't a question of what students want. It's what the school may have available. If all the other elective classes that a student wants to take are full, she has to take one of these classes if she wants to graduate."
A very small girl named Obie, who had big blue-tinted glasses tilted up across her hair, interrupted then to tell me with a kind of wild gusto that she'd taken hairdressing twice! When I expressed surprise that this was possible, she said there were two levels of hairdressing offered here at Fremont High. "One is in hairstyling," she said. "The other is in braiding."
Mireya stared hard at this student for a moment and then suddenly began to cry. "I don't want to take hairdressing. I did not need sewing either. I knew how to sew. My mother is a seamstress in a factory. I'm trying to go to college. I don't need to sew to go to college. My mother sews. I hoped for something else."
"What would you rather take?" I asked.
"I wanted to take an AP class," she answered.
Mireya's sudden tears elicited a strong reaction from one of the boys who had been silent up till now: a thin, dark-eyed student named Fortino, who had long hair down to his shoulders. He suddenly turned directly to Mireya and spoke into the silence that followed her last words.
"Listen to me," he said. "The owners of the sewing factories need laborers. Correct?"
"I guess they do," Mireya said.
"It's not going to be their own kids. Right?" "Why not?" another student said.
"So they can grow beyond themselves," Mireya answered quietly. "But we remain the same."
"You're ghetto," said Fortino, "so we send you to the factory." He sat low in his desk chair, leaning on one elbow, his voice and dark eyes loaded with a cynical intelligence. "You're ghetto—so you sew!"
"There are higher positions than these," said a student named Samantha.
"You're ghetto," said Fortino unrelentingly. "So sew!"
Admittedly, the economic needs of a society are hound to be reflected to some rational degree within the policies and purposes of public schools. But, even so, there must be something more to life as it is lived by six-year-olds or six-year-olds, or by teenagers, for that matter, than concerns about "successful global competition." Childhood is not merely basic training for utilitarian adulthood. It should have some claims upon our mercy, not for its future value to the economic interests of competitive societies but for its present value as a perishable piece of life itself.
Very few people who are not involved with inner-city schools have any real idea of the extremes to which the mercantile distortion of the purposes and character of education have been taken or how unabashedly proponents of these practices are willing to defend them. The head of a Chicago school, for instance, who was criticized by some for emphasizing rote instruction that, his critics said, was turning children into "robots," found no reason to dispute the charge. "Did you ever stop to think that these robots will never burglarize your home?" he asked, and "will never snatch your pocketbooks. . . . These robots are going to be producing taxes."
Corporate leaders, when they speak of education, sometimes pay lip-service to the notion of "good critical and analytic skills," but it is reasonable to ask whether they have in mind the critical analysis of their priorities. In principle, perhaps some do; but, if so, this is not a principle that seems to have been honored widely in the schools I have been visiting. In all the various business-driven inner-city classrooms I have observed in the past five years, plastered as they are with corporation brand names and managerial vocabularies, I have yet to see the two words "labor unions." Is this an oversight? How is that possible? Teachers and principals themselves, who are almost always members of a union, seem to be so beaten down that they rarely even question this omission.
It is not at all unusual these days to come into an urban school in which the principal prefers to call himself or herself "building CEO" or "building manager." In some of the same schools teachers are described as "classroom managers."3 I have never been in a suburban district in which principals were asked to view themselves or teachers in this way. These terminologies remind us of how wide the distance has become between two very separate worlds of education.
It has been more than a decade now since drill-based literacy methods like Success For All began to proliferate in our urban schools. It has been three and a half years since the systems of assessment that determine the effectiveness of these and similar practices were codified in the federal legislation, No Child Left Behind, that President Bush signed into law in 2002. Since the enactment of this bill, the number of standardized exams children must take has more than doubled. It will probably increase again after the year 2006, when standardized tests, which are now required in grades three through eight, may be required in Head Start programs and, as President Bush has now proposed, in ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades as well.
3 A school I visited three years ago in Columbus, Ohio, was littered with "Help Wanted" signs. Starting in kindergarten, children in the school were being asked to think about the jobs that they might choose when they grew up. In one classroom there was a poster that displayed the names of several retail stores: J. C. Penney, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Sears, and a few others. "It's like working in a store," a classroom aide explained. "The children are learning to pretend they're cashiers." At another school in the same district, children were encouraged to apply for jobs in their classrooms. Among the job positions open to the children in this school, there was an "Absence Manager" and a "Behavior Chart Manager," a "Form Collector Manager," a "Paper Passer Outer Manager," a "Paper Collecting Manager," a "Paper Returning Manager," an "Exit Ticket Manager," even a "Learning Manager," a "Reading Corner Manager," and a "Score Keeper Manager." I asked the principal if there was a special reason why those two words "management" and "manager" kept popping up throughout the school. "We want every child to be working as a manager while he or she is in this school," the principal explained. "We want to make them understand that, in this country, companies will give you opportunities to work, to prove yourself, no matter what you've done." I wasn't sure what she meant by "no matter what you've done," and asked her if she could explain it. "Even if you have a felony arrest," she said, "we want you to understand that you can be a manager someday."
The elements of strict accountability, in short, are solidly in place; and in many states where the present federal policies are simply reinforcements of accountability requirements that were established long before the passage of the federal law, the same regimen has been in place since 1995 or even earlier. The "tests-and-standards" partisans have had things very much their way for an extended period of time, and those who were convinced that they had ascertained "what works" in schools that serve minorities and children of the poor have had ample opportunity to prove that they were right.
What, then, it is reasonable to ask, are the results?
The achievement gap between black and white children, which narrowed for three decades up until the late years of the 1980s—the period in which school segregation steadily decreased—started to widen once more in the early 1990s when the federal courts began the process of resegregation by dismantling the mandates of the Brown decision. From that point on, the gap continued to widen or remained essentially unchanged; and while recently there has been a modest narrowing of the gap in reading scores for fourth-grade children, the gap in secondary school remains as wide as ever.
The media inevitably celebrate the periodic upticks that a set of scores may seem to indicate in one year or another in achievement levels of black and Hispanic children in their elementary schools. But if these upticks were not merely temporary "testing gains" achieved by test-prep regimens and were instead authentic education gains, they would carry over into middle school and high school. Children who know how to read—and read with comprehension—do not suddenly become nonreaders and hopelessly disabled writers when they enter secondary school. False gains evaporate; real gains endure. Yet hundreds of thousands of the inner-city children who have made what many districts claim to be dramatic gains in elementary school, and whose principals and teachers have adjusted almost every aspect of their school days and school calendars, forfeiting recess, canceling or cutting back on all the so-called frills (art, music, even social sciences) in order to comply with state demands those students, now in secondary school, are sitting in subject-matter classes where they cannot comprehend the texts and cannot set down their ideas in the kind of sentences expected of most fourth- and fifth-grade students in the suburbs. Students in this painful situation, not surprisingly, tend to be most likely to drop out of school.
In 48 percent of high schools in the nation's 100 largest districts, which are those in which the highest concentrations of black and Hispanic students tend to be enrolled, less than half the entering ninth-graders graduate in four years. Nationwide, from 1993 to 2002, the number of high schools graduating less than half their ninth-grade class in four years has increased by 75 percent. In the 94 percent of districts in New York State where white children make up the majority, nearly 80 percent of students graduate from high school in four years. In the 6 percent of districts where black and Hispanic students make up the majority, only 40 percent do so. There are 120 high schools in New York, enrolling nearly 200,000 minority students, where less than 60 percent of entering ninth-graders even make it to twelfth grade.
The promulgation of new and expanded inventories of "what works," no matter the enthusiasm with which they're elaborated, is not going to change this. The use of hortatory slogans chanted by the students in our segregated schools is not going to change this. Desperate historical revisionism that romanticizes the segregation of an older order (this is a common theme of many separatists today) is not going to change this. Skinnerian instructional approaches, which decapitate a child's capability for critical reflection, are not going to change this. Posters about "global competition" will certainly not change this. Turning six-year-olds into examination soldiers and denying eight-year-olds their time for play at recess will not change this.
"I went to Washington to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations," said President Bush in his campaign for reelection in September 2004. "It's working. It's making a difference." Here we have one of those deadly lies that by sheer repetition is at length accepted by surprisingly large numbers of Americans. But it is not the truth; and it is not an innocent misstatement of the facts. It is a devious appeasement of the heartache of the parents of the black and brown and poor, and if it is not forcefully resisted it will lead us further in a very dangerous direction.
Whether the issue is inequity alone or deepening resegregation or the labyrinthine intertwining of the two, it is well past the time for us to start the work that it will take to change this. If it takes people marching in the streets and other forms of adamant disruption of the governing civilities, if it takes more than litigation, more than legislation, and much more than resolutions introduced by members of Congress, these are prices we should be prepared to pay. "We do not have the things you have," Alliyah told me when she wrote to ask if I would come and visit her school in the South Bronx. "Can you help us?" America owes that little girl and millions like her a more honorable answer than they have received.
Jonathan Kozol is the author of many books, including Savage Inequalities and Amazing Grace. This article was adapted from The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, to be published this month by Crown.
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/American-Apartheid-Education1sep05.htm
Ku Klux Klan (k' kluks klan), designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used the name. The first Ku Klux Klan was an organization that thrived in the South during the Reconstruction Reconstruction, 1865–77, in U.S. history, the period of readjustment following the Civil War. At the end of the Civil War , the defeated South was a ruined land.
..... Click the link for more information. period following the Civil War Civil War, in U.S. history, conflict (1861–65) between the Northern states (the Union) and the Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy .
..... Click the link for more information. . The second was a nationwide organization that flourished after World War I. Subsequent groups calling themselves the Ku Klux Klan sprang up in much of the South after World War II and in response to civil-rights activity during the 1960s. The First Ku Klux KlanThe original Ku Klux Klan was organized by ex-Confederate elements to oppose the Reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and to maintain "white supremacy." After the Civil War, when local government in the South was weak or nonexistent and there were fears of black outrages and even of an insurrection, informal vigilante organizations or armed patrols were formed in almost all communities. These were linked together in societies, such as the Men of Justice, the Pale Faces, the Constitutional Union Guards, the White Brotherhood, and the Order of the White Rose. The Ku Klux Klan was the best known of these, and in time it absorbed many of the smaller organizations.
It was organized at Pulaski, Tenn., in May, 1866. Its strange disguises, its silent parades, its midnight rides, its mysterious language and commands, were found to be most effective in playing upon fears and superstitions. The riders muffled their horses' feet and covered the horses with white robes. They themselves, dressed in flowing white sheets, their faces covered with white masks, and with skulls at their saddle horns, posed as spirits of the Confederate dead returned from the battlefields. Although the Klan was often able to achieve its aims by terror alone, whippings and lynchings were also used, not only against blacks but also against the so-called carpetbaggers carpetbaggers, epithet used in the South after the Civil War to describe Northerners who went to the South during Reconstruction to make money. Although regarded as transients because of the carpetbags in which they carried their possessions (hence the name
..... Click the link for more information. and scalawags scalawags (skal`?wagz)
..... Click the link for more information. .
A general organization of the local Klans was effected in Apr., 1867, at Nashville, Tenn. Gen. N. B. Forrest Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 1821–77, Confederate general, b. Bedford co., Tenn. (his birthplace is now in Marshall co.). At the beginning of the Civil War, Forrest, a wealthy citizen of Memphis, organized a cavalry force, which he led at Fort Donelson (Feb.
..... Click the link for more information. , the famous Confederate cavalry leader, was made Grand Wizard of the Empire and was assisted by ten Genii. Each state constituted a Realm under a Grand Dragon with eight Hydras as a staff; several counties formed a Dominion controlled by a Grand Titan and six Furies; a county was a Province ruled by a Grand Giant and four Night Hawks; the local Den was governed by a Grand Cyclops with two Night Hawks as aides. The individual members were called Ghouls.
Control over local Dens was not as complete as this organization would seem to indicate, and reckless and even lawless local leaders sometimes committed acts that the leaders could not countenance. General Forrest, in Jan., 1869, seemingly under some apprehension as to the use of its power, ordered the disbandment of the Klan and resigned as Grand Wizard. Local organizations continued, some of them for many years.
The Klan was particularly effective in systematically keeping black men away from the polls, so that the ex-Confederates gained political control in many states. Congress in 1870 and 1871 passed legislation to combat the Klan (see force bill force bill, popular name for several laws in U.S. history, notably the act of Mar. 2, 1833, and the Reconstruction acts of May 31, 1870; Feb. 28, 1871; and Apr. 20, 1871.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The Klan was especially strong in the mountain and Piedmont areas. In the Lower South the Knights of the White Camelia were dominant. That order, founded (1867) in Louisiana, is reputed to have had even more members than the Ku Klux Klan, but its membership was more conservative and its actions less spectacular. It had a similar divisional organization, with headquarters in New Orleans.
The Second Ku Klux KlanThe second Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1915 by William J. Simmons, an ex-minister and promoter of fraternal orders; its first meeting was held on Stone Mt., Ga. The new Klan had a wider program than its forerunner, for it added to "white supremacy" an intense nativism and anti-Catholicism (it was also anti-Semitic) closely related to that of the Know-Nothing movement of the middle 19th cent. Consequently its appeal was not sectional, and, aided after 1920 by the activities of professional promoters Elizabeth Tyler and Edward Y. Clarke, it spread rapidly throughout the North as well as the South. It furnished an outlet for the militant patriotism aroused by World War I, and it stressed fundamentalism in religion.
Professing itself nonpolitical, the Klan nevertheless controlled politics in many communities and in 1922, 1924, and 1926 elected many state officials and a number of Congressmen. Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Oregon, and Maine were particularly under its influence. Its power in the Midwest was broken during the late 1920s when David C. Stephenson, a major Klan leader there, was convicted of second-degree murder, and evidence of corruption came out that led to the indictment of the governor of Indiana and the mayor of Indianapolis, both supporters of the Klan. The Klan frequently took extralegal measures, especially against those whom it considered its enemies. As was the case with the earlier Klan, some of these measures, whether authorized by the central organization or not, were extreme.
At its peak in the mid-1920s its membership was estimated at 4 million to 5 million. Although the actual figures were probably much smaller, the Klan nevertheless declined with amazing rapidity to an estimated 30,000 by 1930. The Klan spirit, however, was a factor in breaking the Democratic hold on the South in 1928, when Alfred E. Smith Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873–1944, American political leader, b. New York City. Reared in poor surroundings, he had no formal education beyond grade school and took various jobs—including work in the Fulton fish market—to help support his family.
..... Click the link for more information. , a Roman Catholic, was that party's presidential candidate. Its collapse thereafter was largely due to state laws that forbade masks and eliminated the secret element, to the bad publicity the organization received through its thugs and swindlers, and apparently from the declining interest of the members. With the depression of the 1930s, dues-paying membership of the Klan shrank to almost nothing. Meanwhile, many of its leaders had done extremely well financially from the dues and the sale of Klan paraphernalia.
The Klan after World War IIAfter World War II, Dr. Samuel Green of Georgia led a concerted attempt to revive the Klan, but it failed dismally as the organization splintered and as state after state specifically barred the order. Southern civil-rights activities during the 1960s gave the Klan a new impetus and led to revivals of scattered Klan organizations. The most notable of these were Mississippi's White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, led by Robert Shelton. The newly revived Klan groups were responsible for violent attacks against blacks and civil-rights workers in cities throughout the South, including Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Fla., Birmingham and Montgomery, Ala., and Meridian, Miss. In spite of its efforts, the new Klan was not strong, and by the end of the decade its power and membership had declined to practically nothing. Although a resurgence of support for the Klan was manifest in the surprising popularity in the early 1990s of David Duke of Louisiana, actual membership in Klan organizations is estimated to be in the low thousands.
BibliographyA. W. Tourgée's Fool's Errand (1880) and T. Dixon's Clansman (1905), on which D. W. Griffith based his famous film The Birth of a Nation, were two popular novels about the original Klan. For other works on the Reconstruction era Ku Klux Klan see W. L. Fleming's edition (1905) of J. C. Lester and D. L. Wilson, Ku Klux Klan; S. F. Horn, Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan, 1866–1871 (1939, repr. 1973). The structure of the Klan after World War I is discussed in J. M. Mecklin, The Ku Klux Klan (1924); A. S. Rice, The Ku Klux Klan in American Politics (1962); N. MacLean, Behind the Mask of Chivalry (1994). D. Lowe's Ku Klux Klan: The Invisible Empire (1967) deals with the final period of Klan activity, as does D. M. Chalmer's Hooded Americanism (1968), which also discusses the first and second Klans. See also W. C. Wade, The Fiery Cross (1987); A. W. Tourgee, The Invisible Empire (1989).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
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Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Either of two racist terrorist organizations in the U.S. The first was organized by veterans of the Confederate army, first as a social club and then as a secret means of resisting Reconstruction and restoring white domination over newly enfranchised blacks. Dressed in white robes and sheets, Klansmen whipped and killed freedmen and their white supporters in nighttime raids (see lynching). It had largely accomplished its goals by the 1870s before gradually fading away. The second KKK arose in 1915, partly out of nostalgia for the Old South and partly out of fear of the rise of communism in Russia and the changing ethnic character of U.S. society. It counted Catholics, Jews, foreigners, and labour unions among its enemies. Its membership peaked in the 1920s at more than four million, but during the Great Depression the organization gradually declined. It became active again during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, attacking blacks and white civil rights workers with bombings, whippings, and shootings. By the end of the 20th century, growing racial tolerance had reduced its numbers to a few thousand.
For more information on Ku Klux Klan (KKK), visit Britannica.com. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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Ku Klux Klan
anti-Negro terrorist organization, started in southern U.S. [Am. Hist.: Allen, 46–49]
See : Bigotry
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Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
group espousing white supremacy takes law into its own hands. [Am. Hist.: EB, V: 935]
See : Extremism
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Ku Klux Klan
post-Civil War white supremacist organization used terrorist tactics against blacks. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 1505]
See : Terrorism
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Ku Klux Klan
Powerful earthquake hits south-west Pakistan
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The Socialism Scare
Recently, the right wing has seized on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) admission that he wants to "spread the wealth around" as evidence that his tax policies are somehow socialist, communist, or Marxist. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) compared Obama's policies to those of Cuba, saying, "Where I come from, where I was raised, they tried wealth redistribution. We don't need that here, that's called Socialism, Communism, not Americanism." House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said, "You want to talk about socialism. You put these people in office, it's batten down the hatches and watch out." The media have also piled on, with WFTV Orlando's Barbara West asking Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) during an interview, "How is Sen. Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?" Fox News' Sean Hannity said Obama has "doubled down on socialism for America," while Bill O'Reilly admitted that he "wouldn't have said the Marxism thing" but that Obama nevertheless espouses "quasi-socialism." All of these conservatives, however, are distorting the Obama plan, which simply makes the American tax system slightly more progressive -- an idea that the American public solidly supports.
REPEALING THE TOP BUSH TAX CUTS: As the New Yorker noted, "[T]he principle that Obama evinced, which most economists would regard as unexceptionable, can be traced to Adam Smith," who wrote in "The Wealth of Nations," "It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion." Obama's plan is to repeal the Bush tax cuts on the top two federal income tax brackets, raising their rates to 36 percent and 39 percent and from 33 and 36 percent, respectively. This returns them to the levels that President Clinton had set. A new analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice found that only 2.5 percent of Americans would lose any of their Bush tax cuts under the Obama plan. Meanwhile, making all of Bush's cuts permanent, along with the corresponding alternative minimum tax relief, would cost $4.4 trillion by 2018. Research has shown that both private business investment and job growth were significantly stronger under Clinton's tax rates than under Bush's.
AMERICANS FAVOR PROGRESSIVE TAXATION: Ever since the federal income tax was enacted in 1913, it has been progressive; rates have increased proportionally with income. And the income tax is part of an overall tax system that is otherwise regressive. All working Americans pay the payroll tax, as well as various local and state sales and property taxes. Payroll taxes are quite regressive -- the highest earning 20 percent of Americans pay a lower average rate than the lowest earning 20 percent. Additionally, the public strongly favors the concept of progressive taxation: a Financial Times/Harris Poll found that 62 percent feel "the government should tax the wealthy more." A Pew Research Poll released last week shows that the public "agrees with progressives' stance on taxation and rejects the conservative approach." Only 25 percent agree "with the centerpiece of the conservative tax program: making all of the Bush tax cuts permanent." Meanwhile, 37 percent want to repeal tax cuts for the wealthy while keeping the rest of the cuts, and 25 percent want to repeal all of the cuts.
CONSERVATIVE REVERSE SOCIALISM: Conservative economic plans also redistribute wealth, but to the wealthiest Americans in the form of tax cuts that benefit corporations and those in the top income brackets. Yesterday, Boehner unveiled his own economic recovery plan, which is focused on tax breaks that include cutting the top corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent and suspending the capital gains tax for two years. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) proposed a similar "six point economic plan" this month, in which he advocated completely eliminating the capital gains tax and making all of the Bush tax cuts permanent. Some of these provisions are also embraced by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and they are all propositions from which the overwhelming benefit would go to the very wealthy. As the Tax Policy Center found, 75 percent of the benefit of low taxes on capital gains and dividends "already go to those making $600,000 or more. Half goes to those making $2.8 million or more." Simply cutting the capital gains rate in half gives two-thirds of the benefit to those making $1 million or more. Meanwhile, cutting the corporate tax rate sends $175 billion to America's corporations, and these corporations would have no incentive to reinvest the extra money. As a report by the Center for American Progress found, "economic policies with tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy as their centerpiece have simply failed to produce strong economic growth by a variety of measures," including employment, investment, and wage levels.
http://pr.thinkprogress.org/
Bush's Looming Defeat in Iraq
By Robert Parry
October 27, 2008
John McCain continues to talk about a U.S. “victory” in Iraq and Sarah Palin baits Barack Obama for not using the word “win” when he discusses the war. But the hard reality facing whoever becomes President is a looming strategic defeat.
The shape of that defeat is outlined in the Oct. 13 draft of the “status-of-forces” agreement negotiated between Washington and Baghdad in which the United States accepts a full withdrawal of its combat troops by the end of 2011, or earlier if the Iraqi government demands.
Over the past several months as the agreement has taken shape, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government has escalated its demands, and the Bush administration has made concession after concession. Yet even now, many powerful Iraqi politicians -- especially among the Shiites -- are demanding that American troops get out even faster.
Iraq seems intent on telling the United States the diplomatic equivalent of “don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
If that’s the case, the United States may end up achieving almost none of its core geopolitical objectives despite the deaths of more than 4,000 soldiers, the maiming of more than 30,000 others, and the expenditure of $1 trillion or more in taxpayer dollars.
Though President George W. Bush sold the war to the American people as needed to protect the nation from Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, it turned out that Hussein had no WMD stockpiles and presented no genuine threat to the United States.
The war’s real motives – dear to the hearts of neoconservatives close to Bush – were to project American power into the Middle East, establish military bases for pressuring Iran and Syria on regime change, create a puppet Iraqi government friendly to Israel, and secure U.S. access to Iraqi oil.
The neocons, many of whom cut their foreign-policy teeth on the Reagan administration’s hard-line strategies in Central America, saw Iraq as a Middle East version of Honduras, which in the 1980s was used as a base to launch military strikes against Sandinista-ruled Nicaragua and other leftist movements in the region.
Viewing the Central American outcome as a success – despite the horrendous death toll – key neocons, such as current deputy national security adviser Elliott Abrams, sought to apply those lessons to the Middle East with Iraq playing the role of Honduras.
‘Real Men’
So, after the relatively easy U.S. conquest of Iraq in spring 2003, a joke within neocon circles of Washington was whether to strike next at Syria or Iran, with the punch-line: “Real men go to Teheran.”
These realpolitik motives were rarely mentioned publicly, but this neocon dream of the United States achieving military dominion over the Middle East was always at the center of the Bush administration’s thinking. It was in line with the grandiose ambitions of the Project for the New American Century.
Yet, when the American people weren't being told the scary fictions about Hussein attacking with his imaginary WMD, they were hearing President Bush’s noble talk about protecting human rights and spreading democracy.
But that was mostly window-dressing, too. In reality, there has been little progress on democracy or human rights in key U.S. allies in the Arab world, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt or the Persian Gulf sheikdoms.
When limited experiments in democracy were tried, they almost invariably backfired, partly because Bush is widely despised in the region. U.S.-supported Palestinian elections brought radical Hamas to power in Gaza, while the Iraqi elections deepened sectarian schisms and exacerbated the violence in 2005 and 2006.
The latest irony is that Bush’s desire to use the status-of-forces agreement to cement a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq – essentially to lock in the next occupant of the White House – has had the opposite result.
Given broad Iraqi opposition to the U.S. occupation – and with new elections scheduled for early 2009 – Iraqi political factions are trying to position themselves as defenders of the nation’s sovereignty, not American puppets.
That political dynamic has led to reducing the U.S. military options contained in the evolving status-of-forces agreement.
New Draft
The latest draft, dated Oct. 13 and translated by Iraqi political analyst Raed Jarrar, sets firm deadlines for the removal of U.S. combat forces from Iraqi cities and towns (June 30, 2009) and for their final departure (Dec. 31, 2011).
In a little-noticed concession, the Bush administration not only gave the Iraqi government veto power over any U.S.-desired extension of the departure date, but wording was inserted to require clearance through “constitutional procedures” for the U.S. military presence to go beyond 2011, an apparent reference to approval from the Iraqi parliament.
With key factions hostile to an ongoing U.S. military presence, that wording would seem to lock in the withdrawal dates. Although the Bush administration has tried to spin the U.S. departure as “conditions-based,” it now has the look of a firm timetable.
Other language in the agreement requires the United States to turn over any fixed bases to the Iraqi government at Baghdad's discretion.
So, the neocon dream of transforming Iraq into a land-based aircraft carrier for carrying out military strikes against Iran, Syria and other perceived enemies appears to be ending, regardless of whether neocon favorite, McCain, succeeds President Bush, or Obama does with his plan to remove U.S. combat forces over 16 months.
Under the latest version of the status-of-forces agreement, the only option for carrying out the neocon plan would seem to be the raw imposition of American imperial dominance, a move that would meet widespread international resistance and likely rekindle the insurrection inside Iraq.
The far more likely outcome in Iraq is the gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces, with Washington left with little to show for its investment in blood and treasure.
If that indeed is what happens, the supposedly “successful surge,” which has cost more than 1,000 American lives, will have done little more than buy Bush time to exit the White House before the full consequences of his military adventure become obvious.
As for Iraq, it seems doomed to continue as a country plagued by sectarian rivalries. The Shiite majority will establish close relations with neighboring Shiite-ruled Iran; the Sunnis will remain resentful over their reduced status; and the Kurds will insist on their autonomous region in the north.
Whether a meaningful democracy can survive long amid these tensions – and the recent history of horrific violence – is doubtful. The bitter end-result for the Iraqis may be the Balkanization of their country into sectarian enclaves or the emergence of another strongman in the mold of Saddam Hussein.
For the United States, memories of its military intervention in a country halfway around the world may fade gradually into history, swallowed by the shifting sands of the ancient land of Mesopatamia, another chapter of failed imperial overreach in a long saga dating back to Biblical times.
Despite the terrible price in blood, treasure and prestige, little may remain of Bush’s adventure besides the recognition of a painful strategic defeat for the United States and a historical reminder about the arrogance of power.
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/102708.html
It's Time for a Trillion-Dollar Tag Sale at the Pentagon
By Nick Turse, Tomdispatch.com. Posted October 29, 2008.
When we want to get serious about a long-term bailout strategy, we'll start dismantling the American empire and Pentagon programs.
Wars, bases, and money. The three are inextricably tied together.
In the 1980s, for example, American support for jihadis like Osama bin Laden waging war on (Soviet) infidels who invaded and constructed bases in Afghanistan, a Muslim land, led to rage by many of the same jihadis at the bases (U.S.) infidels built in the Muslim holy land of Saudi Arabia in the 1990s. That, in turn, led to jihadis like bin Laden declaring war on those infidels, which, after September 11, 2001, led the Bush administration to launch, and then prosecute, a Global War on Terror, often from newly built bases in Muslim lands. Over the last seven years, the results of that war have been particularly disastrous for Iraqis and Afghans. Sizable numbers of Americans, however, are now beginning to suffer as well. After all, their hard-earned taxpayer dollars have been poured into wars without end, leaving the country deeply in debt and in a state of economic turmoil.
In his 1988 State of the Union message, President Ronald Reagan called the jihadis in Afghanistan "freedom fighters." They were, of course, fighting the Soviet Union then. He, too, pledged eternal enmity against the Soviet Union, which he termed an "evil empire." For years, conservatives have claimed that Reagan not only won his Afghan War, but by launching an all-out arms race, which the economically weaker Soviet Union couldn't match, bankrupted the Soviets and so brought their empire down.
While that version of history may be disputed, today, it is entirely possible that one of Reagan's freedom fighters, Osama bin Laden, actually returned the favor by perfecting the art of financially felling a superpower. While Reagan ran up a superpower-sized tab to outspend the Soviets, bin Laden has done it on the cheap. Essentially for the cost of box cutters and flight training, he got the Bush administration to spend itself into penury, without a superpower in sight.
Since bin Laden's supreme act of economic judo in 2001, the U.S. military has spent multi-billions of tax dollars on a string of bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, failed wars in both countries, and a failed effort to make good on George W. Bush's promise to bring in bin Laden "dead or alive." Despite this record, the Pentagon still has a success option in its back pocket that might help bail out the American people in this perilous economic moment. It could immediately begin to auction off its overseas empire posthaste. To head down this road, however, U.S. military leaders would first have to take a brutally honest look at the real costs, and the real utility, of their massively expensive weapons systems and, above all, those bases.
Today, the Pentagon acknowledges 761 active military "sites" in foreign countries -- and that's without bases in Iraq, Afghanistan, and certain other countries even being counted. This "empire of bases," as Chalmers Johnson has noted, "began as the leftover residue of World War II," later evolving into a Cold War and post-Cold War garrisoning of the planet.
With those bases came a series of costly wars in Korea in the 1950s, Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, and the Persian Gulf in the early 1990s. An extremely conservative estimate of their cost by the Congressional Research Service -- $1 trillion (in 2008 dollars) -- tops the present economic bailout. Add in brief cut-and-run flops like Lebanon in 1983 and Somalia, from 1992-1995, as well as now-forgotten hollow victories in places like the island of Grenada and Panama, and you tack on billions more with little to show for it.
Since 2001, the Bush administration's Global War on Terror (including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq) has cost taxpayers more than the recent bailout -- more than $800 billion and still climbing by at least $3.5 billion each week. And the full bill has yet to come due. According to Noble Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard University professor Linda Bilmes, the total costs of those two wars could top out between $3 trillion and $7 trillion.
While squandering money, the Global War on Terror has also acted as a production line for the creation of yet more military bases in the oil heartlands of the planet. Just how many is unknown -- the Pentagon keeps exact figures under wraps -- but, in 2005, according to the Washington Post, there were 106 American bases, from macro to micro, in Iraq alone.
If you were to begin the process of disentangling Americans from this world of war and the war economy that goes with it, those bases would be a good place to start. There is no way to estimate the true costs of our empire of bases, but it's worth considering what an imperial tag sale could mean for America's financial well-being. One thing is clear: in getting rid of those bases, the United States would be able to recoup, or save, hundreds of billions of dollars, despite the costs associated with shutting them down.
Tag Sales and Savings
If the Pentagon sold off just the buildings and structures on its officially acknowledged overseas bases at their current estimated replacement value, the country would stand to gain more than $119 billion. Think of this as but a down payment on a full-scale Pentagon bailout package.
In addition, while it leases the property on which most of its bases abroad are built, the Pentagon does own some lucrative lands that could be sold off. For instance, it is the proud owner of more than 11,000 acres in Abu Dhabi, "the richest and most powerful of the seven kingdoms of the United Arab Emirates." With land values there averaging $1,100 per square meter last year, this property alone is worth an estimated $48.9 billion. The Pentagon also owns several thousand acres spread across Oman, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and Belgium. Selling off these lands as well would net a sizeable sum.
Without those bases, billions of dollars in other Pentagon expenses would immediately disappear. For instance, during the years of the Global War on Terror, the Overseas Cost of Living Allowance, which equalizes the "purchasing power between members [of the military] overseas and their U.S.-based counterparts," has reached about $12 billion. Over the same period, the price tag for educating the children of U.S. military personnel abroad has clocked in at around $3.5 billion. By shutting down the 127 Department of Defense schools in Europe and the Pacific (as well as the 65 scattered across the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico, and Cuba) and sending the children to public schools, the U.S. would realize modest long-term savings. Once no longer garrisoning the globe, the Pentagon would also be able to cease paying out the $1 billion or so that goes into the routine construction of housing and other base facilities each year, not to mention the multi-billions that have gone into the construction, and continual upgrading, of bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And that's not the end of it either. Back in the 1990s, the Pentagon estimated that it was spending $30 billion each year on "base support activities" -- though the exact meaning of this phrase remains vague. Just take, for example, five bases being handed back to Germany: Buedingen, Gelnhausen, Darmstadt, Hanau and Turley Barracks in Mannheim. The annual cost of "operating" them is approximately $176 million. Imagine, then, what it has cost to run those 750+ bases during the Global War on Terror years.
Some recent Pentagon contracts for general operations and support functions overseas are instructive. In March, for instance, Bahrain Maritime and Mercantile International was awarded a one-year contract worth $2.8 billion to supply and distribute "food and non-food products" to "Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and other approved customers located in the Middle East countries of Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia."
In July, the French foodservices giant Sodexo received a one-year contract worth $180 million for "maintenance, repair and operations for the Korea Zone of the Pacific Region." These and other pricey support contracts for food, fuel, maintenance, transport, and other non-military expenses, paid to foreign firms, would disappear along with those U.S. garrisons, as would enormous sums spent on all sorts of military projects overseas. In 2007, for instance, the Army, Navy, and Air Force spent $2.5 billion in Germany, $1 billion in Japan, and $164 million in Qatar. And this year, the Pentagon paid a jaw-dropping $1 billion-plus for contracts carried out in South Korea alone.
Men and Materiel
With most or all of those 761 foreign bases off the books, and a much reduced global military "footprint," the U.S. could downsize its armed forces. As Andrew Bacevich notes in his book The Limits of Power, it already costs the Pentagon a bailout-sized $700 billion a year to "train, equip, and sustain the current active-duty force and to defray the costs of on-going operations." Even if current U.S. forces were simply brought home, there would still be significant savings (including, of course, the $10 billion a month going into the Iraq and Afghan wars).
The very opposite, however, is happening. Facing manpower demands on an overstretched military, the Pentagon is planning to ramp up the size of the armed forces by 92,000 over the next several years. That expansion comes with a sure-to-rise price tag of $108 billion. This step has the support of large majorities in Congress and both presidential candidates. John McCain has denounced the notion of "roll[ing] back our overseas commitments" and instead proposes "to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps." Barack Obama agrees, but has been more specific. He has long touted plans, echoing the Pentagon's desires, to "increase the size of the Army by 65,000 troops and the Marines by 27,000 troops."
Just attracting this many recruits would cost a small fortune. This year, the Army had to spend $240 million on advertising alone to help meet its recruiting goals. On top of that, it paid out $547 million in bonuses to recruits -- a 164% increase since 2005. And this is to say nothing of how much it costs to train, equip, feed, and pay these future troops.
Capping, if not decreasing, the size of the military and bringing troops home would be the foundation for a new foreign policy based on non-aggression and fiscal responsibility. This would, of course, be a major departure for the military. In the 120 years between 1888 and 2008, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service, only seven -- using generous criteria -- were without "notable deployments of U.S. military forces overseas." Beginning in 2009, U.S. forces could aim for a complete reversal of this trend for the next 120 years, enabling the slashing of budgets for force-projection weapons systems.
Take the F-22A Raptor, a fighter plane designed to counter advanced Soviet aircraft that were never built. Pentagon budget documents released earlier this year put the estimated cost of the program, 2007 to 2013, at almost $3.7 billion. With no advanced Soviet fighters around to dogfight -- Russian aircraft had trouble enough in their recent Georgian encounters -- and no need for its "global strike" capabilities, the program could be scrapped. Such a step is not without precedent. As Wired magazine's Danger Room blog reported last month, Congress "all-but-eliminated funding for the so-called ‘Blackswift' program," a prototype hypersonic aircraft for which the Pentagon had requested almost $800 million in 2009 start-up funding. If the project remains stillborn, that alone will mean billions in future savings.
This year, for example, the Air Force is spending nearly $65 billion on new weapons systems. By shutting current and future weapons programs not meant for actual defense of the United States, Americans would be looking at hundreds of billions of dollars in savings in the near term. If the Pentagon demilitarized and sold off existing equipment as well, including, for instance, some of its 120,000 Humvees, at least 280 ships, and 14,000 aircraft, you're talking about another significant infusion of cash.
Bases Gone Bust
If history suggests anything, it's that one way or another, on a long enough timeline, all imperial garrisons fall. Some, of course, go bust sooner than others. As one Army publication noted in the 1970s, "[t]he ravages of rot, jungle, and weather have left only memories of the once-mighty World War II bases of the South Pacific." The fate of many bases built since has been no less inglorious.
While it would be difficult to total up just how many firebases, camps, airbases, port facilities, and base camps the U.S. had in Indochina during the Vietnam War, or what it cost to build and upgrade them, the numbers would surely be staggering. What we do know is instructive. For instance, the U.S. Army-Vietnam headquarters complex at Long Binh, about 16 miles from Saigon, had a value of more than $100 million in 1972 -- the year the U.S. gave it away to its South Vietnamese allies. They, in turn, lost it when the Saigon regime collapsed in 1975. Today, it's an industrial park. Similarly, the U.S. poured huge sums into its naval base at Cam Ranh Bay. By 1979, the Soviet Navy was using it and, after abandoning it earlier this decade, may do so again.
Similarly, in the 1990s, the U.S. got kicked out of its massive bases in the Philippines. A volcano laid waste to Clark Air Base and the Philippine Senate rejected U.S. efforts to extend the lease on its massive installation at Subic Bay. Just moving out personnel and equipment afterwards cost billions. More recently, the same process played out on fast forward in Central Asia. As adjunct professor at the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College Stephen Schwalbe pointed out in an article in Air & Space Power Journal, after the U.S. negotiated the right to use Uzbekistan's Karshi-Khanabad Air Base in 2001, as part of its Afghan War plans, it pumped millions of dollars into the base to improve infrastructure and facilities -- from increased aircraft parking space to a movie theater. It also ponied up a $15 million fee for its use.
In 2005, however, Uzbek security forces perpetrated a massacre of domestic protesters, leading to a Bush administration demand for an investigation. In the end, all the money spent on the base was wasted. Not long after the American request, Uzbekistan gave the U.S. military 180 days to leave the base and the country -- and promptly signed friendship pacts with Russia and China.
The buildings and structures at the U.S. base at Ecuador's Manta Air Field are valued at over $176 million and are also soon to move into the Pentagon's loss column. Last year, Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa offered the following terms for continued use of Manta after 2009: "We'll renew the base on one condition: that they let us put a base in Miami -- an Ecuadorian base." The U.S. did not take him up on the proposal. Correa has since offered to lease the base to China for commercial use.
The Pentagon stands to lose billions more when it finally withdraws from Iraq and Afghanistan. The cost of manning, maintaining, and regularly upgrading the mega-bases in Iraq, in particular, is already a significant financial burden on American taxpayers, but it would be dwarfed by the losses incurred if they had to be abandoned. As such, getting out, even in today's depressed real-estate market, would be the financially prudent thing to do.
Similarly, closing down the Bush administration's notorious torture bases might yield significant financial savings (while enhancing global opinion of the U.S.). Selling off the Pentagon's facilities on the British-owned island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, for instance, where Global War on Terror "ghost prisoners" have been held (and U.S. air raids on Iraq and Afghanistan have been regularly launched), could yield $2.6 billion.
Palash Biswas
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Memories of Another day
While my Parents Pulin babu and Basanti devi were living
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