See the grace of America that how it let its citizens to criticize it openly without any censorship. To criticize the policies of the government is not weakening the America, it is making U.S. more strong. The people, who are the citizens of America are at least grateful to the USA for two things; for having such a good life, and for being in the USA. These are the reasons, why the people love United States Of America!
Courtesy: YouTube
By
NEW DELHI: UPA-2 will perhaps best be remembered for a series of financial scams and the so-called policy paralysis but as it prepares to sign off, it is now hobbled by its Pakistan policy.
Stung by what India sees as Pakistan’s refusal to allow any concession to the outgoing government for normalizing trade relations, senior government sources here told TOI Islamabad’s policy over the issue was being dictated by Pakistan’s military establishment. They said the upcoming elections are now certain to mark the termination of the idea that trade can lead to peaceful relations between the two countries.
“The several recent flip-flops made by the Nawaz Sharif government on the issue has greatly reduced the its credibility with Indian negotiators who have concluded that in addition to political and security policy, the Pakistan government does not even have the ability to go against the Pakistan military dictates on issues related to economic reforms,” said a top government official, in a reaction to Sharif’s comment on Monday that MFN status to India has been delayed because of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Read more » THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pak-army-stopped-Nawaz-Sharif-govt-from-trade-deal-India/articleshow/32699101.cms
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-112-2013 – The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that on the 66 celebration of the Independence Day of Pakistan, three more Sindh nationalists were gunned downed in a fake encounter in Karachi and many young Sindhi activists were arrested from different districts of Sindh province and their whereabouts are unknown.
Read more » ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
DR Hameed Soomro writes: a tragedy took place near Naushahro Feroze claiming the lives of Maqsood Qureshi, brother of late nationalist leader Bashir Qureshi and Salman Wadho. … After [being] shot the bodies were dumped in their car and set on fire. … Earlier Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz chief Bashir Qureshi also died in mysterious circumstances. …Maqsood belonged to a nationalist group which … [does not] … pose a threat to the state. … The group did not announce any armed struggle. Still Maqsood was killed. There are speculations that … this might be a message to the group to remain within its limits. … This incident [sends] the message that Balochistan-like conditions are being created in Sindh. … It is the responsibility of the government … to solve this mystery. … — (March 23) ~ Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi.
Courtesy: DAWN
http://www.dawn.com/news/1095465?fb_action_ids=10152130818119830&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=[1481293392099200]&action_type_map=[%22og.likes%22]&action_ref_map=[]
Must watch analysis of gruesome murders of liberal and secular Sindhi Nationalist leaders of Maqsood Qureshi and Saleman Wadhu and the biggest-ever, 5 million peaceful rally of Freedom march by the people of Sindh. The language of the video clip is in Sindhi language. Discussion by Naseer Memon and Moeson Baber.
Courtesy: Sindhi Tv channel Aawaz Tv
By Kirshna Y.
About five million Sindhis marched in Karachi and demanded United Nations and the world community for their intervention for the freedom of Sindh.
Numbers matter. Opinions matter more. If combined together, they determine a vast arena of matters. This is what one can say about the South Asia’s populist and the peaceful most freedom movement ongoing in Sindh. No doubt, the movement has been giving the sparkly glitz since last a few years.
On March 23, 2014, millions of Sindhi people from across the Sindh province held a ‘Freedom March for Sindh’ on the call of Jeay Sindh Qomi Mahaz (JSQM) in Karachi, the capital city of Sindh. They demanded “Independence of Sindh” by appealing the world community especially the United Nations, USA, UK, Russia, France and China for their ‘support and intervention” for the freedom of Sindh to attain its sovereign and independent country. It is worth mentioning here that JSQM is one of secular most political parties in Pakistan.
The march was held on the Republic Day of Pakistan on March 23, 2014. It was also held on the same day in 2012 and was attended by at least two million people. The popular most Sindhi nationalist leader of the last two decades, Bashir Qureshi who was Chairman of Jeay Sindh Qomi Mahaz (JSQM) was poisoned to death by Pakistan?s military establishment and died within a couple of week in April 2012 after holding the freedom march.
After his death, his son Sanan Qureshi, who is in his twenties, was elected as Chairperson of JSQM. Bashir Qureshi’s younger brother Maqsood Qureshi was already a member of GMist Council, the higher most forum of the organization.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai threw U.S. observers for a loop over the weekend, announcing that his country would join Syria and Venezuela in supporting Russia’s Crimea invasion annexation:
Citing “the free will of the Crimean people,” the office of President Hamid Karzai said, “we respect the decision the people of Crimea took through a recent referendum that considers Crimea as part of the Russian Federation.”…
Aimal Faizi, the spokesman for Mr. Karzai, said that the Russian annexation of Crimea was a “legitimate move” and that the palace statement represented Afghanistan’s official recognition of the new borders.
“Afghanistan always respects the free will of the nations on deciding their future,” he wrote in an email. He did not elaborate.
Continue reading Afghanistan Backs Russia’s Crimean Invasion, Fails Irony 101
By Zulfiqar Halepoto
More than 50 historians, researchers, writers, intellectuals and scholars from different parts of the world are gathered and presenting their papers at a three-day seminar ‘Sindh through the centuries’ by the Sindh Madressatul University-Karachi, Sindh.
This is the second International seminar on the subject, as the first international conference was held in March 1975 under the patronage of the then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The inaugural session was chaired by leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, while Senator Aitzaz Ahsan, author of The Indus Saga, was the chief guest. Sindh Chief Minister will be chief guest at the concluding session of the conference on March 26.
Besides scholars from across Pakistan, the guest speakers from other parts of the world include Dr Jonathan Mark Kenoyer from the University of Wisconsin, US; Dr Atsushi Noguchi from Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan; Dr Jetho Lalwani from India; Dr Rafique Mughal from Boston University, US; Dr Osada Toshiki of RIHN, Japan; Dr Michael Jansen from German University of Technology, Germany; JaeSeung Park from Hanyang University, Korea; Dr Andre Wink from the University of Wisconsin, US; Dr Matthew A. Cook from North Carolina Central University, US; Dr Rita P. Wright from New York University, US; Indian writer and publisher Saaz Aggarwal; Dr Thomas Dhnhardt from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy; Dr Michel Boivin, Centre for South Asian Studies, Paris, France; Jrgen Schaflechner from Germany; Korean poet and writer Esther Park; Dr Supriya Banik Pal from India; Dr Murlidhar K. Jetley from the University of Delhi, India; Dr Vinod Asudani from Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management, Nagpur, India; Indian poet Kailash Shaadaab; Dr Kamla Goklani from Ajmer, India; Dr Hari Lohano from the University of the West of England, the UK; SumanSonkar from the University of Delhi, India; noted Sindhi scholar from India Hiro Thakur.from Pakistan Dr Hamida Khuhro, Dr Mohammad Ali Shaikh, Dr Nilofer Shaikh, Dr Fahmida Hussain.and others are present there.
Courtesy: via Facebook
KARACHI: Supporters and activists of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) converged at MA Jinnah Road in Karachi for the Freedom March on Sunday. The party managed to attract a respectable crowd, despite the recent killings of two of its leaders and the threats of possible attacks at the rally.
“Is it a sin to love your motherland? Have we ever adopted the path of violence?” questioned the party’s chairperson Sunan Qureshi while addressing the rally. He alleged that his uncle, Maqsood, and another party leader, Wadho, were killed by ‘hidden hands’.
Speaking about the province’s natural resources and its share in the country’s revenue, Sunan said that despite contributing 82 per cent of the country’s natural gas, 69 per cent of its petrol and 80 per cent of the total budget, children were dying in Tharparkar due to starvation. He said that 6.1 million children in Sindh were out of schools. “About 28 per cent people of the total population of Sindh have hepatitis and because of contaminated water and food shortage, the average life expectancy in Sindh is just 43 years,” he claimed.
Sunan also alleged that Sindh’s water is being stolen, saying that the continuous arrival of outsiders in Sindh had created an alarming situation.
“We consider Urdu-speaking people as permanent residents of Sindh. We accept you as our brothers,” he announced, amid of slogans of Jeay Sindh. “But don’t take Sindh as a policy. Sindh is our motherland and we won’t accept its division at any cost.” The youngest leader of any Sindhi nationalist party, Sunan addressed the huge crowd in front of Rimpa Plaza. Leaders of different nationalist parties attended the march, including Riaz Chandio, Khaliq Junejo, Zain Shah, Ameer Bhanbhro and Dodo Mehri.
Sunan said that religious harmony existed in Sindh before the partition of the sub-continent and that religious hatred was now being instigated deliberately.
The funerals of the party’s leaders, Maqsood and Wadho, who were killed on Friday, were also performed after Sunan’s address. Their bodies were later taken to Ratodero, where both will be buried today (Monday).
The area from Tibet Centre to Numaish Chowrangi was cordoned off and all roads were blocked with containers. Participants from different parts of the city joined the main rally which started from Qureshi’s residence in Gulshan-e-Hadeed.
“Both our leaders were shot dead and their bodies were set ablaze,” said party vice-chairperson Dr Niaz Kalani. “We will register an FIR after the burial rites,” he confirmed to The Express Tribune.
Sagar Hanif Burdi, one of the party’s leaders, confirmed that Waseem Akhtar and Ashfaque Mangi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had also joined them for the rally.
“The Sindh government has not contacted us yet,” he revealed, saying that only statements have been issued.
This was the second such rally on March 23 by the JSQM – the first was led by Sunan’s deceased father, Bashir Khan Qureshi, in 2012. Bashir died under mysterious circumstances soon after the rally on April 7.
Courtesy: The Express Tribune, March 24th, 2014.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/686523/strength-in-numbers-jsqms-freedom-march-turns-into-partys-biggest-ever-rally/
KIEV — It could be seen as saber rattling, fear-mongering or an astute prediction by a man with intimate knowledge of Ukrainian-Russian history, but Leonid Kravchuk is adamant that Russian President Vladimir Putin has strayed into potentially cataclysmic territory, and that the current showdown in Crimea could escalate into a world war.
In an interview with International Business Times, Kravchuk, who led Ukraine to independence in 1991 and became its first president, claimed there are already 18,000 Russian soldiers in his country and that a full-scale Russian invasion would cause Western powers – including NATO – to engage them militarily.
Read more » INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
http://www.ibtimes.com/ukraine-crisis-could-spark-third-world-war-former-communist-party-leader-president-kravchuk-warns
Meanwhile in Pakistan, the natives (Sindhis) of the largest revenue-generating province, Sindh, of Pakistan took to the arteries of Karachi to demand independence from Pakistan. They alleged that Pakistan was not acknowledging their culture and historical status of a ‘nation’, whose roots are in the Mohen-jo-Daro, the ancient Indus civilization.
A couple of days back, while on work for the ‘Freedom March’, two leaders, Maqsood Qureshi and Salman Wadho, of the organizing Sindhi nationalist party, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), were found charred in a burned out car in Sindh. The post martem report holds it that they were shot multiple times before the car was set on fire. JSQM alleged that the Pakistani intelligence agencies were involved in the dual murder.
The Freedom March started back in 2012 when the then-party chairman, Bashir Khan Qureshi led the Freedom March in Karachi on March 23rd. The specific day is chosen because, on this day, Pakistan celebrates the passing of the Lahore Resolution, in which official demand for a separate country was upheld; however, unlike the status defined for the federating units to be ‘autonomous’, Pakistan violating the resolution itself made the federating units as ‘provinces’ and tried to paint all nations — Sindhi, Bengali, Baloch, Punjabi — as ONE single nation which all but Punjabis resisted and, consequently, the East Pakistan turned into Bangladesh.
Mr. Qureshi died two weeks past that march ‘mysteriously’.
So, two freedom march at the cost of two central leaders — brothers to each other.
Despite being the richest province of Pakistan, recently, scores of children died in the Thar area of Sindh due to what was being labelled as ‘famine’. Joblessness is prevalent. Poverty is at its bloom in Sindh. Natives are barred from decision-making process and migration from other parts of the country and the world is threatening the natives to turn into minority in their own historical homeland.
The so-called national (Read Urdu-language) media completely blacked out the coverage of the thousands of the Sindhi marching in the country’s largest commercial city, Karachi.
Read more » http://networkedblogs.com/VaNfS
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More details » BBC urdu
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/pakistan/2014/03/140323_jeay_sindh_freedom_march_sa.shtml
By ShoukatZ
SINDH – Karachi: Pakistan is under the threat of Disintegration and after Baluchistan Now Sindh is also demanding freedom from the state of Pakistan. To show this demand Politically one of the Sindhi Nationalist Party Jiye Sindh Qomi Mahaaz (JSQM) called for a freedom March in the provincial capital of Sindh Province.
The leaders in there speeches were telling the audience about the atrocities of the State and specially brought recently burnt after being Shot dead two of the leaders bodies in protest.
Sanaan Qureshi a young leader and son of the slain Nationalist leader Bashir Khan Qureshi told the audience that we are betrayed and our rights are violated by the state of Pakistan. Demanding own right to live is not a Sin but when we demand it we get killed. He said enough is enough. our survival is in freedom and the state of Pakistan has to demolish.
Niaz Kalani the vice chairman again reminded about the extra judicial killing of Nationalists leaders by state agencies and condemned it. He said our province meets the demands of Pakistan like 70% of Tax revenue, 83 % of natural Gas, Sea ports and the biggest coal mines in thar Desert but our people are dieing of Hunger.
He said this is the right time to show the world and world should see this that millions of peoples are on streets but except regional Sindhi media there is no media Coverage. He further said how long will you suppress our voice, how many people will you kill??. The leaders demanded World Community to Take notice of Extra judicial killings & human rights violation of Sindhi People
The rally was attended by almost 5 million people and the majority was youth of Sindh. After speeches they performed the funeral prayers of their slain leaders whose bodies were brought in the rally.
Comment by Manzoor Chandio, Karachi
How deceitful are the leaders of so-called mainstream political parties when each year on March 23rd they call for realisation of Pakistan’s ideals. Sixty-seven years on, they have paid no heed to the fact that the 1940 Lahore Resolution adopted by the League in Lahore envisaged “sovereign and autonomous” federating units to be the part of the federation of Pakistan. Much water has flown under the bridge since then and Pakistan has become a festering cesspool by deviating from the charter. Now the recognition of provinces’ right to self-determination would only be the correct decision.
Courtesy: via Facebook
88 injured, 29 arrested in Madrid as anti-austerity march turns violent
Protesters clashed with police in Madrid as thousands of people trekked across Spain to protest austerity which they claim is destroying their country. Under the banner “no more cuts!” the protesters called for an end to the government’s “empty promises.”
Police arrested at least 29 protesters following the clashes which took place after the march. According to emergency service, 88 people were injured – 55 of them police, El Mundo newspaper reports.
Protesters were seen throwing stones and firecrackers at police. According to witnesses, officers used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
Clashes broke out during a final speech at the demonstration when protesters tried to break through a police barrier. Riot police took charge by beating protesters with batons, AP reported.
“The mass rally was coming to an an end when reportedly a group of younger protesters, who had masks on their faces, started throwing rocks at the police. Police tried to push them away from the parameter that they organized around this area,” RT’s Egor Piskunov reported from Madrid.
Read more » http://rt.com/news/spain-protest-cuts-crisis-509/
Comment by Aziz Narejo
Sindh Demands Freedom: JSQM, other nationalist organizations to hold a major rally in Karachi tomorrow on 23rd March to demand freedom for Sindh. Police, rangers, other state agencies have sprung into action to sabotage the rally. They have raided & arrested several activists. They shot to death & then burned two JSQM leaders yesterday.
Today police & rangers have surrounded the University of Sindh & opened fire on students gathering to join the rally. They are trying to block other rallies/groups of people from joining the main rally.
Such highhandedness must be strongly condemned.
Courtesy: via Facebook
KARACHI, March 21: Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Patron-In-Chief, Pakistan Peoples Party has strongly condemned the brutal killings of Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) leader Maqsood Qureshi and a worker in Naushehro Feroz.
In a press statement, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said inhuman act of burning the bodies of JSQM leader was the most heinous crime stressing that those committed it must not go scot-free at any cost.
He asked for thorough probe into the incident and fact-finding as PPP, being a democratic party, would never allow such incidents under any circumstances.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed sympathy to the family of JSQM leader and workers and asked the people to remain calm and assured full support to the bereaved family.
Courtesy: Media Cell PPP
http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2014/03/21/bilawal-bhutto-zardari-condemns-jsqm-leaders-killings/
Death is rarely spoken about in our homes. I wonder why. Especially when each one of us knows that death has to come, has to strike. It’s inevitable. This line from Yas Yagana Changezi says it best: Khuda mein shak ho to ho, maut mein nahin koi shak (You may or may not doubt the existence of God, you can’t doubt the certainty of death). And one must prepare oneself to face it.
LAHORE: Prof. Jamil Umar, Central Secretary General of Awami Workers Party, has passed away. He was a well-known intellectual and renowned writer of left, activist and liberal thinker of Pakistan. His funeral will take place @ 5 Usman Block, New Garden Town, Lahore, on Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 5pm.
Marois reiterates the separatist party’s long-held position that Quebec would keep using the Canadian currency — and seek a seat on the Bank of Canada.
QUEBEC—An independent Quebec would keep using the Canadian dollar and ask for a seat at the Bank of Canada, Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois said Wednesday.
Marois told reporters at a campaign stop that Canada would benefit from having a sovereign Quebec maintain its ties to the loonie and the central bank.
Read more » Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/03/12/parti_qubcois_leader_pauline_marois_says_sovereign_quebec_would_keep_the_loonie.html
March In March Australia 2014, three days of peaceful assemblies, non-partisan citizens’ marches and rallies at Federal Parliament and around Australia to protest against government decisions that are against the common good of our nation.
This signifies a ‘people’s vote of no confidence’ in government policies and decisions that go against common principles of humanity, decency, fairness,social justice and equity, democratic governance, responsible global citizenship and conserving our natural heritage.
Many Australians are deeply concerned with the way our country is being governed. Not just at the present moment, but in general. They are concerned over issues which directly affect them, their families, and indeed all Australians. They are concerned about the policies and behaviour of all Australian political parties. They are concerned with the direction in which Australia’s great civil society is heading.
Democracy doesn’t end at the ballot box. It is the right, if not duty, of all Australians to hold our elected representatives to account; to remind them that they are, above all else, public servants. We must inform them regularly, daily if need be, of our concerns with the issues that affect all Australians. We must participate directly in our democracy in order for it to be truly representative.
Read more » http://revolution-news.com/australians-march-march-show-confidence-government/
By Matthew Ponsford and Nick Glass, CNN
(CNN) — Katie Hall was shocked the second she saw it: a light-bulb glowing in middle of a room with no wires attached.
Looking back, it was a crude experiment, she remembers: a tiny room filled with gigantic cooper refrigerator coils — the kind you’d see if you cracked open the back of your freezer.
She walked in and out between the coils and the bulb — and still the bulb glowed.
“I said: ‘Let’s work on this. This is the future.'”
What’s the trick?
“We’re going to transfer power without any kind of wires,” says Dr Hall, now Chief Technology Officer at WiTricity — a start-up developing wireless “resonance” technology.
“But, we’re not actually putting electricity in the air. What we’re doing is putting a magnetic field in the air.”
It works like this: WiTricity build a “Source Resonator” — a coil of electrical wire that generates a magnetic field when power is attached.
If another coil is brought close, an electrical charge can be generated in it. No wires required.
“When you bring a device into that magnetic field, it induces a current in the device, and by that you’re able to transfer power,” explains Dr Hall.
And like that, the bulb lights up.
Wireless homes
Don’t worry about getting zapped: Hall assures that the magnetic fields used to transfer energy are “perfectly safe” — in fact, they are the same kind of fields used in Wi-Fi routers.
In the house of the future, wire-free energy transfer could be as easy as wireless internet.
If all goes to WiTricity’s plans, smartphones will charge in your pocket as you wander around, televisions will flicker with no wires attached, and electric cars will refuel while sitting on the driveway.
WiTricity have already demonstrated their ability to power laptops, cell-phones, and TVs by attaching resonator coils to batteries — and an electric car refueller is reportedly in the works.
Hall sees a bright future for the family without wires:
“We just don’t think about it anymore: I’m going to drive my car home and I’m never going to have to go to the gas station and I’m never going to have to plug it in.
“I can’t even imagine how things will change when we live like that.”
World outside
Beyond these effort-saving applications, Hall sees more revolutionary steps.
When Hall first saw the wireless bulb, she immediately thought of medical technology — seeing that devices transplanted beneath the skin could be charged non-intrusively.
WiTricity is now working with a medical company to recharge a left-ventricular assist device — “a heart-pump essentially.”
The technology opens the door to any number of mobile electronic devices which have so far been held back by limited battery lives.
“The idea of eliminating cables would allow us to re-design things in ways that we haven’t yet thought of, that’s just going to make our devices and everything that we interact with, that much more efficient, more practical and maybe even give brand new functionality.
Read more » CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/14/tech/innovation/wireless-electricity/index.html
With an international team of investigators still seemingly baffled about what happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared over the weekend, relatives of the passengers and diplomats from countries touched by the mishap have vented their frustration with the Malaysian government. For days, it seems, Malaysian officials and the state-owned carrier have released almost no information about the flight or working theories of why it vanished. Malaysia Airlines did not even inform relatives for 15 hours that the plane had disappeared, sending the distraught families to a hotel in Beijing to wait, and Kuala Lumpur’s envoys still have mostly kept the relatives in the dark days later.
More than 100 friends and relatives of the vanished passengers signed a petition on Monday calling on the Malaysian government to be more transparent and answer questions. Several of the relatives threw bottles at Malaysia Airlines employees who came to speak with them in Beijing, where the missing plane had been headed, but mostly the officials maintained their tight-lipped approach.
The frustration felt by families of the missing is understandable and reasonable, but no one should have expected much better from the Malaysian government. Although theoretically a democracy with regular, contested elections, Malaysia has been ruled since independence by the same governing coalition that has become known for its lack of transparency and disinterest—even outright hostility—toward the press and inquiring citizens. For a relatively wealthy country, Malaysia is also unusually prone to corruption. Since the Sept. 11 attacks and the revelations that al-Qaeda members had convened planning meetings in Malaysia, the government has become intensely controlling of any information about potential terror threats
Read more » Business Week
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-12/why-malaysia-will-say-almost-nothing-about-the-missing-flight
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – Thousands of workers marched in Argentina’s capital Wednesday seeking to double the minimum wage to cope with sky-high inflation.
Prices have been rising steadily in recent months particularly since January, when the peso shed 18 per cent of its value against the US dollar.
Workers with the Argentine Workers Federation representing teachers and government workers marched on the landmark Plaza de Mayo square and the Casa Rosada government house.
Union chief Pablo Micheli said the workers were seeking a minimum wage of 9,000 pesos (S$1,447 per month) – more than twice the current minimum of 3,600 pesos a month.
Read more » ST
http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/world/story/thousands-march-argentina-higher-wages-20140313
By Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA – Canadians have much to learn from Germany’s famed apprenticeship system despite doubts it could succeed in Canada, Jason Kenney said as he wrapped up a fact-finding mission into how the European powerhouse streams its youth into skilled trades.
“Sure, we can’t pick up the German system and transplant it to Canada — that would be ridiculous,” the employment minister said in a telephone interview, adding it was a “lazy point of view” to be dismissive of the long-established German partnership among government, schools and business.
“Closer collaboration between the education system and employers is so important. Giving kids relevant information about what kind of education is likely to lead to promising careers and remuneration — these things don’t have to be unique to Germany.”
Kenney said Ottawa and provincial governments can also look at “ways of massively expanding paid co-op opportunities for students during post-secondary education” and consider “reinventing” vocational high schools.
The minister has been leading a 30-member delegation of Canadian politicians from five provinces, along with business and labour union representatives, on a trip to Germany and Great Britain to learn about their apprenticeship programs.
Read more » Yahoo News
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/kenney-points-study-u-democrat-income-splitting-promise-180242293.html
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A 24-hour strike by civil servants disrupted public services in Greece on Wednesday as the government struggled to hammer out a deal on further austerity measures with international creditors.
Thousands of protesters attended rallies in Athens and other cities, while civil servants penciled in another 48-hour strike on March 19-20.
In central Athens, cleaning staff fired by the finance ministry marched holding up buckets and mops, and a group of school teachers chained themselves to railings in front of parliament.
“I feel like I’ve been dumped in the trash,” said Nikos Kikakis, a suspended 59-year-old high school headmaster who is due to be laid off this month and joined the protest at the parliament. “I have worked for 26 years in public service, and have no hope of finding a job now.”
Read more » Yahoo News
http://news.yahoo.com/strikes-greece-austerity-deal-proves-elusive-090617286–finance.html
A far ranging conversation that runs over contemporary global affairs and Pakistan.
Courtesy: Vimeo
Speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), the Nobel Prize winner for economics talked about the upcoming general elections, calling for “party that is pro-market and pro-business to come to power and doesn’t prioritise one religion over another”. He also urged the media to be more responsive to the “poor and marginalised”.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Nobel Prize winner in economics Amartya Sen wants a secular, not a fundamentalist party, to lead India’s government. He also wants quality education for children, and media that are more responsible and attentive to the needs of the poor.
Last Saturday, the famous economist spoke at the Jaipur Literature Festival, now in its seventh edition. In his address, he expressed ‘seven wishes’, highlighting some of India’s major challenges, to which he offered some possible solutions.
The first one concerns the upcoming national election in May. “I want to see a party that is pro-market and pro-business to come to power and doesn’t prioritise one religion over another,” Sen said
Read more » Asia News
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Amartya-Sen:-New-Indian-government-must-be-secular,-not-fundamentalist-30105.html
by BruinKid
Last night, Bill Maher delivered an excellent final New Rule on how some of the 1% are whining about feeling persecuted.
Did you know that during World War II, FDR actually proposed a cap on income that in today’s dollars would mean that no person could ever take home more than about $300,000? OK, that is a little low. (audience laughter) But wouldn’t it be great if there were Democrats out there like that now, who would say to billionaires, “Oh, you’re crying? We’ll give you something to cry about. You don’t want a minimum wage? How about we not only have a minimum wage, we have a maximum wage?” (audience applause)
That is not a new idea. James Madison, who wrote our Constitution, said, “Government should prevent an immoderate accumulation of riches.” Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, they all agreed that too much money in the hands of too few would destroy democracy.
Read more » DAILY KOS
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/01/1281312/-Bill-Maher-s-excellent-commentary-on-income-inequality
The State Department is explicitly shooting down an Israeli “must have” for the negotiating framework. That’s an imperative that comes from the top. And that means Obama and Kerry.
Read more » FRONTPAGE MAG
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/obama-rejects-israel-as-a-jewish-state/
Truthdig / By Chris Hedges
“The basic conventions of public discourse are those of the Enlightenment, in which the use of reason [enabled] us to achieve human objectives,” Offer said as we sat amid piles of books in his cluttered office. “Reason should be tempered by reality, by the facts. So underlining this is a notion of science that confronts reality and is revised by reference to reality. This is the model for how we talk. It is the model for the things we assume. But the reality that has emerged around us has not come out of this process. So our basic conventions only serve to justify existing relationships, structures and hierarchies. Plausible arguments are made for principles that are incompatible with each other.”
Offer cited a concept from social psychology called the just-world theory. “A just-world theory posits that the world is just. People get what they deserve. If you believe that the world is fair you explain or rationalize away injustice, usually by blaming the victim.
“Major ways of thinking about the world constitute just-world theories,” he said. “The Catholic Church is a just-world theory. If the Inquisition burned heretics, they only got what they deserved. Bolshevism was a just-world theory. If Kulaks were starved and exiled, they got what they deserved. Fascism was a just-world theory. If Jews died in the concentration camps, they got what they deserved. The point is not that the good people get the good things, but the bad people get the bad things. Neoclassical economics, our principal source of policy norms, is a just-world theory.”
Offer quoted the economist Milton Friedman: “The ethical principle that would directly justify the distribution of income in a free market society is, ‘To each according to what he and the instruments he owns produces.’ ”
“So,” Offer went on, “everyone gets what he or she deserves, either for his or her effort or for his or her property. No one asks how he or she got this property. And if they don’t have it, they probably don’t deserve it. The point about just-world theory is not that it dispenses justice, but that it provides a warrant for inflicting pain.”
Read more » Alternet
http://www.alternet.org/economy/dominant-economic-model-21st-century-pain-and-suffering-almost-all
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