BBC News - 'Sex' drove fossil animal traits

BBC News - 'Sex' drove fossil animal traits

Jimmy Carter's New Baptist Covenant message of racial reconciliation and cooperation on social issue

Dalits Marginalized : Jimmy Carter's New Baptist Covenant message of racial reconciliation and cooperation on social issue

February 12, the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin - a year of celebrations

 

By Robert Colvile
Last Updated: 11:52AM GMT 02 Feb 2009

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species Photo: PA

 ....some sort of celebration of Charles Darwin will soon be in full swing to mark his anniversary year. Even if you just consider February 12, the biologist’s 200th birthday, there will be events in London, Newcastle, Bristol, Edinburgh, Hull, Shrewsbury, Cardiff, Elgin, Cambridge, Bath, Bolton, Ipswich and many other parts of the country.

The National History Museum will unveil a new artwork on its ceiling; Darwin’s alma mater – Christ’s College, Cambridge – will host a £5,000-a-head charity dinner, attended by the Duke of Edinburgh and Sir David Attenborough, to fund research links with the Galapagos Islands, where much of Darwin’s research was carried out; Richard Dawkins and Lord Harries, the former Bishop of Oxford, will debate each other at the Institute of Biology in London, in an echo of the famous battle over Darwinism between Bishop Wilberforce and Thomas Huxley; and there will even be a new set of commemorative stamps issued.

However, “Darwin Day” is only the start. The National History Museum will be continuing its blockbuster Darwin exhibition until April, with other shows at a dozen or so venues, most notably the British Library, the National Portrait Gallery, and Darwin’s former home, Down House in Kent. There will be a week-long festival in Cambridge, and the Wellcome Trust has collaborated with the Royal Botanic Gardens to send a free set of Darwin experiments and activities to every school in the country.

Worldwide, the British Council will also be organising activities to promote Darwin’s life and work.  Read it all 

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Admirers of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), known for his book, On The Origin Of Species,will be celebrating Darwin's 200th birthday.Charles Darwin's home is to be nominated as a World Heritage Site, as part of a celebration of the 200th anniversary of his birth. 


Locally, there will be a celebration of Darwin's birthday on February 12, 2009 at noon in the Lobby-Atrium of building Science B at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. The event is free and the general public is invited. Attendees are invited to bring decorations for a "Darwin Tree of Life." HSU's Department of Biological Sciences will host the event, with a birthday cake and snacks, an exhibit of Darwin's many books and a Power Point illustrating milestones in the scientist's life.


Published in 1859, On the Origin of Species became the basis of modern evolutionary theory and a foundation of biological science. Darwin is also known for The Voyage of the Beagle, based on a nearly five-year, ocean-going expedition during which he collected zoological data about marine invertebrates.  Link

Obama on Decision making in a Democratic Society - 2006 speech

Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.

Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, as many evangelicals do. But in a pluralistic democracy, we have no choice. Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality. It involves the compromise, the art of what's possible. At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It's the art of the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God's edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one's life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime, but to base our policy making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing. And if you doubt that, let me give you an example.

We all know the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham is ordered by God to offer up his only son, and without argument, he takes Isaac to the mountaintop, binds him to an altar, and raises his knife, prepared to act as God has commanded.

Of course, in the end God sends down an angel to intercede at the very last minute, and Abraham passes God's test of devotion.

But it's fair to say that if any of us leaving this church saw Abraham on a roof of a building raising his knife, we would, at the very least, call the police and expect the Department of Children and Family Services to take Isaac away from Abraham. We would do so because we do not hear what Abraham hears, do not see what Abraham sees, true as those experiences may be. So the best we can do is act in accordance with those things that we all see, and that we all hear, be it common laws or basic reason. read it all here

Che Guevara: Fifty years of Cuban Revolution

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Che's spirit burns on in Latin America
Che's image crops in protests in Latin America and beyond

By Daniel Schweimler
BBC News, Buenos Aires

Fifty years ago saw the triumph of the Cuban revolution, led by Fidel Castro. A key figure in that success was Ernesto Che Guevara, who led rebel fighters into Havana on 2 January following the overthrow of Cuba's dictator Fulgencio Batista.
But Che Guevara's attempts to spread the revolution throughout the continent ended with his execution in a remote Bolivian school in 1967.
His image and ideology were suppressed in his native Argentina - and beyond - throughout the 1970s and much of the 1980s, a period that saw much of Latin America governed by right-wing or even military administrations.
Some in Latin America see Che as a failed revolutionary, while others say he was a misguided killer, a brutal man who ordered the execution of dozens of his opponents.
But what is clear is that Che Guevara's image and ideals have continued to resonate - and in some parts of 21st century Latin America now stronger than ever.
The reasons, for some observers, is that the region's institutions are generally weak. The people simply don't trust their governments, banks and judicial systems.
Their protests are often lost in a sea of bureaucracy or corruption, and so for many, the only way to be heard is by taking to the streets. more from BBC

Samuel Huntington, political scientist, dies at 81

1 day ago
BOSTON (AP) — Samuel Huntington, a political scientist best known for his views on the clash of civilizations, died Wednesday on Martha's Vineyard, Harvard University announced Saturday. He was 81.
Huntington had retired from active teaching in 2007 after 58 years at Harvard. His research and teaching focused on American government, democratization, military politics, strategy, and civil-military relations.
He argued that in a post-Cold War world, violent conflict would come not from ideological friction between nations, but from cultural and religious differences among the world's major civilizations.
He identified those civilizations as Western (including the United States and Europe), Latin American, Islamic, African, Orthodox (with Russia as a core state), and Hindu, Japanese, and "Sinic" (including China, Korea, and Vietnam).
He made the argument in a 1993 article in the journal Foreign Affairs, and then expanded the thesis into a book, "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order," which was published in 1996. The book has been translated into 39 languages.
In all, Huntington wrote 17 books including "The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations," published in 1957 and inspired by President Harry Truman's firing of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and "Political Power: USA-USSR," a study of Cold War dynamics, which he co-authored in 1964 with Zbigniew Brzezinski.
His 1969 book, "Political Order in Changing Societies," analyzed political and economic development in the Third World.
"Sam was the kind of scholar that made Harvard a great university," Huntington's friend of nearly six decades, economist Henry Rosovsky said in a statement released by the university.
Huntington was born on April 18, 1927, in New York City. He received his B.A. from Yale in 1946, served in the U.S. Army, earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1948, and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1951. source

Six Prominent American Freethinkers

by James Farmelant and Mark Lindley

An article in the March 2008 issue of Aufklärung und Kritik¹described four "new atheists" in the USA (Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens); the present article describes some earlier prominent American freethinkers.  We won't go back as far as the deists (Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine) among the leading 18th-century founding fathers of the USA, and we will leave aside (a) Mark Twain (the genial humorist, who merits an essay all to himself and whose atheism was not part of his publicpersona during his lifetime but became evident in writings published many years after his death), (b) Ralph Waldo Emerson (a freethinker in his own somewhat mystical way, but not clearly an agnostic, let alone an atheist) and (c) Henry David Thoreau (a radical whose ideas had, however, far less impact in the USA than upon Mahatma Gandhi in southern Africa).  We will focus instead on the following six figures:

• Col. Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899), in his day famous throughout the USA as an attorney, a top-level political figure, a great orator, a colorful writer and, most saliently, a public spokesman for agnosticism.

• Felix Adler (1851-1933), who founded The Ethical Culture Society, a rationalistic, humanist, non-theist religion promoting ethical conduct as its central aim and sponsoring an historically important social-work NGO.

• George Santayana (1863-1952), a sophisticated philosophy professor well known in the USA for a best-selling Bildungsroman and fairly well known also as an atheist, but also a lifelong admirer of Roman Catholicism.

• John Dewey (1859-1952), an eminent pragmatist philosopher whose outlook was avowedly naturalistic and non-theist but who proposed to retain much of the traditional language of religion while redefining many of its traditional concepts to make them compatible with a scientific outlook.

• Ayn Rand (1905-1982), an outspoken atheist who considered altruism and all other forms of social concern to be "anti-human" and whose advocacy of laissez-faire capitalism provided to her close personal disciple, Alan Greenspan, the ideological platform upon which he, as executive head of the central banking system in the USA from 1987 to 2006, played a leading role in pumping up the financial bubble which is currently in the process of bursting.

read the full article here

NOBEL LECTURE by MARTTI AHTISAARI

NOBEL LECTURE

Peace Is A Question Of Will

Wars and conflicts are not inevitable. They are caused by human beings. There are always interests that are furthered by war. Therefore those who have power and influence can also stop them.

MARTTI AHTISAARI

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, Distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Dear Friends and Colleagues around the world, I feel both humility and gratitude at receiving this year's Nobel Peace Prize. It is the greatest recognition anybody working in this field can be given. What I am feeling now can only be compared with the joy I have felt when seeing the changes that peace has brought to the lives of people. When people, who have endured wars and crises, begin to build their lives in an atmosphere of peace - When faith in the future returns. I too was a child affected by a war. I was only two years old when, as a result of an agreement on spheres of interest between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union, war broke out, forcing my family to leave soon thereafter the town of Viipuri. Like several hundred thousand fellow Karelians, we became refugees in our own country as great power politics caused the borders of Finland to be redrawn and left my home town as part of the Soviet Union. This childhood experience contributed to my commitment to working on the resolution of conflicts.  read it all

Nation: V.P. Singh remembered by Kanchan Ialaiah

V.P. Singh remembered by Kanchan Ialaiah

Death of a stateman: Indian Lincoln ignored

 

- Kanchan Ialaiah -

 

If someone, who stood by the oppressed, is ignored, even in death, the oppressed will treat that as their own humiliation.

On November 27, I was back home at around 3 pm. Prof Bhagya Naik, who once was a student leader in the Mandal movement, called me and said, "There is  bad news amidst worse news of terrorism. VP Singh has died and an occasional scroll (news ticker) on NDTV is informing us of that."

All TVs were hooked on to the Taj, Oberoi and Nariman House. I tried to catch up with the news of the death of India's former Prime Minister. I went on looking for at least flash news, on any one of the English channels, which are considered to be "national channels". No ticker could be seen. After quite a long time one channel put out the news, "VP Singh dead". No details. No channel was showing his dead body, no discussion was being organised around his role as Prime Minister.

The next day I looked up several news papers. In almost all the publications, a small news item in a corner  of the front page with a regular photo (not of his dead body) was published.

The electronic media has treated his death as inconsequential, at a time when they were protecting the nation, while broadcasting about what was happening minute to minute around the Taj and Oberoi. In fact, the police and military officials were saying that the round the clock TV cameras around those hotels had obstructed the operation of flushing out the terrorists. On those three days TV channels were competing to get top spot to make more advertising revenue. No one would pay to view that 'Mandal ghost's' dead body. The upper caste media had taken its revenge against a man who initiated a mini civil war in order to establish an  egalitarian India.
VP Singh was the one who deployed a serious discourse of social justice and and worked out a method to make India caste free from the position of Prime Minister. In one sense he was comparable to Abraham Lincoln who initiated a major civil war to abolish slavery in America, in late nineteenth century. He was a white man who stood for the rights of the black people. VP Singh initiated a similar battle of social justice in a country of castes and brazen inequality in 20th century India while holding the position of Prime Minister.

He was a Kshatriya who stood by the lower castes who had been suffering inequality for centuries. Abraham Lincoln was killed by the whites. The upper caste anti-reservationists saw to it that VP Singh lost his power within just eleven months. His political life with any meaningful visibility had been murdered since then. Abraham Lincoln became a hero of the blacks and became a villain among racist whites.

Similarly VP Singh became a hero among Dalit-Bahujans (particularly OBCs) and a villain among the upper castes who claimed themselves to be anti-quota. These anti-reservation upper caste  forces claimed that they wanted to save the nation from terrorists. But the forces that are working in the media  must remember that a nation that promotes equality alone can checkmate terrorism that was working in full force on the day when VP Singh died.

The media and the UPA leaders, by treating him like dirt, even in his death, forgot a basic fact of human life. If someone, who stood by the oppressed, is ignored and humiliated, even in death, the oppressed will treat that as their own humiliation. If this is the attitude of the elite towards a man who sacrificed his Chief Ministership (Uttar Pradesh) on moral grounds, his Defence Ministerial position on the grounds of opposing corruption (Bofors case) and became Prime Minister of the nation on his own political movement's strength (transforming Jan Morcha into Janatha Dal) people know how to read the signs. Therefore such media cannot protect the nation from even the terrorists, as the oppressed majority do not believe in it at all.

VP Singh was a philosopher in his own right, a poet and painter. The media behaved as if he was nobody to this nation. He implemented the Mandal Commission Report, to which suicide attempts by upper caste youth were made. This was subsequently followed with a Kamadal Yatra of Advani, who then became a hero of the upper castes.
If Advani had died amidst the trauma of the Bombay terror attacks, would they have ignored his death as they did in the case of VP Singh? Certainly not, because there is big business in talking about him. Most of the people in the press claim  to be secular but when it comes to business and caste communalism, they give it major coverage as it means big money. The media plays a major role in every thing, including arresting terrorism. But it must remember that if people come to disbelieve what they churn out, then even the terrorists would have be placed in safe havens in our civil society.

More than any other prime minister, VP Singh made Indian democracy transformative. But for his intervention from the position of Prime Minister even the survival of politicians like Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad, Kanshiram, Ram Vilas Paswan and Mayawati would have been difficult. Ironically, these leaders from backward communities also did not bother about him. But he was an icon who had a dream for social equality. Ever since he implemented 27 per cent reservation forCentral government jobs he never compromised on the philosophy of social justice and equality.

The media must have ignored him today but a man of his calibre, will be resurrected soon.

Nation:

Zapatista Army of National Liberation

0.06 sec.

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed revolutionary group based in Chiapas, one of the poorest states of Mexico. Their social base is mostly indigenous but they have some supporters in urban areas as well as an international web of support. Their spokesperson and military commander, although not their leader, is Subcomandante Marcos (currently a.k.a. Delegate Zero in relation to the "Other Campaign"). Unlike other Zapatista comandantes, Subcomandante Marcos is not an indigenous Mayan.

The group takes its name from Emiliano Zapata, a proponent of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920); The Zapatistas see themselves as his ideological heirs. 

In 1994, they "declared war to the mexican state". 

Some consider the Zapatista movement the first "post-modern" revolution: an armed revolutionary group that has abstained from using their weapons since their 1994 uprising was countered by the overpowering military might of the Mexican Army. The Zapatistas quickly adopted a new strategy by trying to garner the support of Mexican and international civil society. They try to achieve this by making use of the internet to disseminate their communiqués and to enlist the support of NGOs and solidarity groups. Outwardly, they portray themselves as part of the wider anti-globalization, anti-neoliberalism social movement while for their indigenous base the Zapatista struggle is all about control over their own resources, particularly the land they live on.

The EZLN opposes corporate globalization, orneoliberalism, arguing that it severely and negatively affects the peasant way of life of its indigenous support base. 

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an example of neoliberal policy that the EZLN is against. Apart from opening the Mexican market to cheap mass-produced US agricultural products it spells an end to Mexican crop subsidies and drastically reduces income and living standards of many southern Mexican farmers who cannot compete with the subsidized, artificially fertilized, mechanically harvested and genetically modified imports from the United States. The signing of NAFTA also resulted in the removal of Article 27 Section VII in the Mexican Constitution which previously had guaranteed land reparations to indigenous groups throughout Mexico. 

Another key element of the Zapatista ideology is how they aspire to realize a new vision of politics: A truly participatory one that comes from the "bottom-up" instead of "top-down." The Zapatistas view the contemporary political system of Mexico as one that is inherently flawed due to what they claim is its purely representative nature and obvious disconnection from the people and their needs. The EZLN claims to, in contrast, reinforce the idea of participatory democracy by limiting public servants' terms to only two weeks a term, lacking visible organization leaders and constantly referring to the people they are governing for major decisions, strategies and conceptual visions. As Marcos reiterates time and time again, "my real commander is the people." In accordance with this principle, the Zapatistas are not a political party: they do not seek office throughout the state and wish to reconceptualize the entire Mexican political system rather than perpetuating it by attempting to gain power within its ranks. 

....... Ideology

Unusual for any revolutionary organization, documents released by the EZLN [1] (in Spanish) before the initial uprising in 1994 explicitly defined a right of the people to resist any unjust actions of the EZLN. However, it can be argued that this has been a right in a number of other rebellions and revolutions, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, such as the Glorious Revolution and Shays' Rebellion, as well as arguably being the view of the moderate majority of parliamentarians in the English Civil War. They also defined a right of the people to: 

demand that the revolutionary armed forces not intervene in matters of civil order or the disposition of capital relating to agriculture, commerce, finances, and industry, as these are the exclusive domain of the civil authorities, elected freely and democratically". Furthermore, it added that the people should "acquire and possess arms to defend their persons, families and property, according to the laws of disposition of capital of farms, commerce, finance and industry, against the armed attacks committed by the revolutionary forces or those of the government. 

 more

Rangzen: The Case for Independent Tibet

Rangzen: The Case for Independent Tibet (2008 edition)-Jamyang Norbu

Phayul[Wednesday, November 12, 2008 23:45] Displaying the old mountain and snowlion flag in Tibet is a “splittist” offence for which you could be shot on sight. In this year’s historic uprising, scores, even hundreds, of national flags were defiantly flown throughout Tibet to visually amplify, as it were, the clarion call of the protestors for independence. There can be no doubt that the people of Tibet are calling for rangzen (freedom). In a real sense even their other demand for the Dalai Lama’s return is a declaration of independence since he is, above all else, the enduring symbol of a free Tibetan nation. Right now, throughout the land, people are holding fast to their dream of independence and the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet — in spite of China’s brutal and all-out military crackdown. An Australian journalist just returned from Lhasa claims that he “…witnessed a city creaking under the weight of the Chinese military.” In a detailed report (Nov.8) he writes: “In the ancient back alleys of Tibet’s capital, Lhasa, a grim military operation has played out this week, hidden from the eyes of the world. As night falls, hundreds of Chinese troops fan out across this rebellious city, armed with riot shields and assault rifles. They set up sentry posts on street corners and dispatch patrols that spend the night walking down the lanes of Lhasa’s Tibetan quarter, looking for any sign of dissent. When the sun rises, the soldiers do not melt away, but are replaced by a new rotation of troops. The military stranglehold on Lhasa by day is maintained with one chilling addition — snipers are installed on rooftops around the city’s most holy site, the Jokhang Temple, ready to train their guns on the hundreds of Tibetan pilgrims praying in Barkhor Square below.” more

Two Muslims to be honoured with Kabir Puraskar for saving Hindus from mob attack

Two Muslims honoured for helping Hindus during riot, terror attack

Submitted by kashif on 3 October 2008 - 1:43pm. 

• Indian Muslim

New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) Two Muslims, one from Gujarat and the other from Jammu and Kashmir, will be honoured with the Kabir Purskar 2008 for saving lives of Hindus during violence.

While Abdul Gani Abdullabhai Qureishi, resident of Vadodara in Gujarat, saved two Hindu families from a rioting mob in 2006, Ghulam Ahmed Bhat from Jammu and Kashmir protected lives of several Kashmiri Pandits in a terror strike in 1997.

The Kabir Puraskar is a national award instituted by the central government in recognition of acts of physical or moral courage displayed by a member of a caste, community or ethnic group in saving the lives and properties of members of another caste, community or ethnic group during caste, community or ethnic violence.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs.50,000.

According to a home ministry statement Thursday, Qureishi saved lives of two Hindu families during communal violence in Vadodara May 1, 2006, following the demolition of a dargah.

"A large violent mob of Muslims had assembled there and two Hindu families in two vehicles passing through that area got caught in the mob fury. Qureishi without caring for his safety, displaying exemplary physical courage, entered the mob riding on his scooter," the press statement said here.

"Braving the stones pelted by the mob, Qureishi stood there firmly and valiantly rescued both the vehicles with their Hindu occupants from fury of the mob."

On May 26, Qureishi saved Kalpesh Madhusudan Pawar from another riotous mob. According to the statement, had he not barged into the rioting mob, Pawar would have been hacked to death.

Bhat also displayed exemplary courage. "In March 1997, militants attacked village Sangranpora, in Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir, in which seven Pandits were killed. Bhat reached the spot even before the police and stood guard for whole of the night saving the rest of the family members."

"On the day following the massacre, Bhat cremated the deceased persons without caring for his own life. Bhat also helped their family members in completing legal formalities required for getting the compensation," the statement added.  read 

Thich Nhat Hanh visits India

Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tick-Naught-Han) is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. During the war in Vietnam, he worked tirelessly for reconciliation between North and South Vietnam. His lifelong efforts to generate peace moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. He lives in exile in a small community in France where he teaches, writes, gardens, and works to help refugees worldwide. He has conducted many mindfulness retreats in Europe and North America helping veterans, children, environmentalists, psychotherapists, artists and many thousands of individuals seeking peace in their hearts, and in their world. ...Thich Naht Hanh biography  ------------------ Order of Interbeing  One of the best known Buddhist teachers in the West,[4][5] Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings and practices appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds. He offers a practice of mindfulness adapted to Western sensibilities.[6] He created the Order of Interbeing in 1966, and established monastic and practice centers around the world. As of 2007 his home is Plum Village Monastery in the Dordogne region in the South of France[2] and he travels internationally giving retreats and talks. He coined the term Engaged Buddhismin his book Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of Fire.[7] 'Terrorists are victims who create more victims' Times of India 2 Oct 2008, 0019 hrs IST,TNN Midway through the news meeting on Wednesday, the grim news came in: Agartala had been rocked by serial blasts. All eyes immediately turned to Ven TOI Guest Editor Thich Nhat Hanh. (TOI Photo) erable Thich Nhat Hanh, the Guest Editor for our special Peace Edition. As journalists, what should we do on a day like this? The Zen master, who has rebuilt bombed villages, set up schools and medical centres, resettled homeless families and for a lifetime advocated tirelessly the principles of non-violence and compassionate action, pondered for a while. When he spoke, it was with great clarity, ''Report in a way that invites readers to take a look at why such things continue to happen and that they have their roots in anger, fear, hate and wrong perceptions. Prevent anger from becoming a collective energy. The only antidote for anger and violence is compassion. Terrorists are also victims, who create other victims of misunderstanding.'' This, remember, is the monk — now 82 years old — credited with a big role in turning American public opinion against the war in Vietnam — for which Martin Luther King Jr had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. And so, his words are not to be dismissed lightly.  more from Wikipedia  Read it all

Sarvodaya: The Phoenix Settlement of Gandhiji in Durban

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's Phoenix Settlement 25 km outside  Durban, South Africa, off the Kwa Mashu Highway, where Gandhi made his home in the 1890s amidst ‘undeveloped’ land and sugarcane plantations,  is preserved as a historic site, formally opened as such by the erstwhile South African President Mbeki in February 2000. The Phoenix Settlement Trust Committee was established in 1969 to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Gandhi. This is the venue where Gandhi first thought out his philosophy of passive resistance to injustice. It is here in 1904 that Gandhi started the Indian newspaper — Opinion — disseminating his ideas. It was here that he lived those ideals by experimenting live, the model community life that he envisioned. As per his belief the settlement was to be run on a non-commercial basis with just enough for all with all, sharing in the work on the farms and the press.

Gandhi’s home there is remembered by the term ‘Sarvodaya’, which he coined himself. ‘Sarva’ meaning all, and ‘uday’ meaning upliftment, together conveying welfare for all.  more 

Gandhi’s Hinduism was a religion of humanity

The Asian Age - Opinion

Jagmohan ( former governor of J&K and a former Union minister

On Gandhi’s birthday, instead of going round the Mahatma’s Samadhi and attending prayer meetings ritualistically, the ruling elite will do well to think how a strong and healthy India could be built on its spiritual traditions and how Hinduism, as viewed by Gandhiji, could be used to refertilise and revitalise that tradition. Dr S. Radhakrishnan, in connection with his study of religion, posed three questions to Mahatma Gandhi: "What is your religion? How are you led to it? What is its bearing on social life?"

Gandhi replied the first question thus: "My religion is Hinduism which, for me, is the religion of humanity and includes the best of all religions known to me." In response to the second question, Gandhi said: "I take it that the present tense in this question has been purposely used, instead of the past. I am led to my religion through truth and non-violence. I often describe my religion as religion of truth. Of late, instead of saying ‘God is Truth’, I have been saying ‘Truth is God’. We are all sparks of Truth. The sum total of these sparks is indescribable, as yet unknown Truth, which is God. I am daily led nearer to it by constant prayer."

To the third question, Gandhi replied: "The bearing of this religion on social life is, or has to be, seen in one’s daily social contact. To be true to such religion, one has to lose oneself in continuous and continuing service of all in life. Realisation of Truth is impossible without a complete merging of oneself in and identification with this limitless ocean of life. Hence, for me, there is no escape from social service; there is no happiness on earth beyond or apart from it. In this scheme, there is nothing low, nothing high. For all is one, though we seem to be many."

Gandhi elaborated: "The deeper I study Hinduism, the stronger becomes the belief in me that Hinduism is as broad as the universe. Something within me tells me that, for all the deep veneration I show to several religions, I am all the more a Hindu, nonetheless for it."

On the Mahatma’s birthday, it seems necessary to bring home these fundamentals, particularly to those who go on condemning Hinduism without even studying it and also to those members of the ruling elite whose attachment to fake and fraudulent "gods" have made the country a den of corruption, callousness, confusion and criminality.

Gandhi’s elucidation makes it clear that true Hinduism is nothing but spiritual secularism. To relegate such a religion and to follow a shallow and superficial secularism is one of the worst sins that the false prophets of contemporary India are committing. They call Gandhi the Father of the Nation. And yet in practice they do everything to negate all his beliefs.

Throughout human history, religion has remained a potent force, despite all the pounding it has received from thinkers like Marx who called it "opiate of the masses" and Freud who termed it as "a collective neurosis of the masses". It may be relevant to recall a talk between Cardinal Gonsalvic and Napoleon. The Cardinal was pleading the case for the Catholic Church. Napoleon got annoyed on some point and shouted at the Cardinal: "Your Eminence, are you not aware that I have the power to destroy the Catholic Church?" The Cardinal smiled and replied: "Your Majesty, we, the Catholic clergy, for the last 1,800 years, have done our level best to destroy the Catholic Church. We did not succeed. You will not succeed either." This conversation brings out in a telling manner the staying power of religion, notwithstanding its internal and external destroyers.

While religion has its influence in every country, it is more so in India. Swami Vivekananda, with his characteristic clarity and insight, has observed: "Each nation, like each individual, has one theme in its life, which is its centre, the principal note around which every other note comes to form the harmony. If any one attempts to throw off this central note, that is, its national vitality, the direction which has become its own through the transmission of centuries, that nation dies. In India, religious life forms the centre, the key-note of the whole music of national life. Take away religion from India; nothing would be left."

Power, in present day India, has become an end in itself. Justice is being buried deeper and deeper. Means, howsoever unscrupulous, are resorted to and then rationalised. Corruption in public life has attained alarming proportions. Most of our institutions have lost their underlying motivation of service and become effete and venal.

Why has this happened? Why have our State and society become soulless entities? Why have criminals enlarged their hold on politics? And why have power and pelf become everything, and justice and truth nothing?

The answer to these questions is that the ethical foundation of Hinduism, as seen by Gandhi, which could provide "an awakened conscience" to an individual and make him an honest, just and compassionate component of society, has been destroyed partly by the stink and slush of our past degeneration and partly by the type of spurious secularism which has been exploited in post-Independence India.

Hinduism, as made clear by Gandhi, sees all human beings as "sparks of truth/divinity". As such, it neither goes against any other religion, nor is it incompatible with the constitutional goals of equality, fraternity, liberty and justice. If the same divinity constitutes the core of all individuals, they cannot but be equal. Further, divinity in one person cannot in any way be unjust to the same divinity in another person. As the Gita puts it: "Seeing the same God equally present in everything, one does not injure the self by self; and goes to the highest goal".

In Hinduism, Gandhi saw a unique quality: "In it there is room for the worship of all the prophets of the world. It is not a missionary religion in the ordinary sense of the word". Gandhi underlined: "God is not encased in a safe to be approached only through a little hole in it, but He is open to be approached through billions of openings by those who are humble and pure of heart".  source 

Gandhi Jayanti 2008: “Alternative Nobel" recognizes Gandhian vision of Sarvodaya

‘Alternative Nobels’ Shared by Four :

Amy Goodman, Monika Hauser, Asha Hagi, Krishnammal

Sarvodaya couple from Tamil Nadu share the honours

Amy GoodmanMonika HauserAsha Hagi Krishnammal

Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan for their efforts to promote social justice through their non-profit organisation Land for the Tillers’ Freedom (Lafti).

The   award  recognizes life long work dedicated to realising in practice the Gandhian vision of social justice and sustainable human development.”  -- the Sarvodaya 

STOCKHOLM: An activist-couple from Tamil Nadu, an American journalist, a Swiss-born doctor and an activist from Somalia were named on Wednesday as this year’s winners of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “alternative Nobel.”

They will share a 2 million kronor (about Rs. 1.34 crore) cash award that will be split in four parts.

A Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull founded the awards in 1980 to recognise work he felt was being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.

American reporter Amy Goodman, founder and host of the syndicated radio and television programme Democracy Now!, was honoured for “truly independent political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by mainstream media,” the organisers said.

The programme works to provide listeners with independent reports from around the world to portray the effects of U.S. foreign policy, featuring artists, activists, academics and analysts.

Ms. Goodman, born in 1957, was also one of about 800 demonstrators and journalists arrested during protests at a Republican National Convention in the U.S. in mid-September.

The jury also honoured the founder of medica mondiale, gynaecologist Monika Hauser, for her work to help sexually abused women in world crisis zones.

The Swiss-born doctor holds an Italian passport and lives and works in Germany.

Organisers of the awards said Dr. Hauser and her colleagues have helped more than 70,000 traumatised women and girls in war and post-war areas.

Somali lawmaker Asha Hagi was honoured for her efforts to promote peace in her homeland by “continuing to lead at great personal risk the female participation in the peace and reconciliation process,” the organisers said.

Ms. Hagi is also chairwoman of Save Somali Women and Children, which helps women get involved in politics.

The last part of the prize was shared by Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan for their efforts to promote social justice through their non-profit organisation Land for the Tillers’ Freedom (Lafti).

The group works to raise the social status of Dalits and by helping redistribute land to poor, landless families.

The Sarvodaya couple and Lafti receive the award “for two long lifetimes of work dedicated to realising in practice the Gandhian vision of social justice and sustainable human development.”

The organisers have referred to them as “India’s soul.”

The octogenarian Krishnnamal Jagannathan is a recipient of the Padma Shri and the Opus Prize 2008 given by Seattle University.

She started Lafti at Kuthur in Nagapattinam district in 1981.

Sankaralingam Jagannathan was an active participant of Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan Movement.

The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish Parliament on December 8, two days before the Nobel Prizes are handed out.  Source 

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 IndianStampGhar.com

Gandhi stamps to go on show

http://www.asianimage.co.uk/display.var.2451714.0.gandhi_stamps_to_go_on_show.php

Asian Image - UK

A unique collection of stamps on Gandhi and Jainism (non-violence) is to be exhibited The Nehru Centre in London later this month.

In the 60th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi?s death, more than 300 individual stamps of Mahatma Gandhi, from over 60 countries, highlight how the world has honoured the father of India through philately.

The first ever stamps depicting Gandhi were issued in 1948 to mark the first anniversary of Indian independence and in 1961 the USA issued stamps with the great leader under the theme of ?Champions of Liberty?.

Over 100 countries throughout the world have followed suit with commemorative stamps and coins.

De-gendered loos in University of Manchester

It’s the “battle of the bathroom” in Britain after the University of Manchester decided to “de-gender” its students’ union toilets.
Controversy erupted after signs of “ladies” were changed to “toilets”, while the “gents” were converted to “toilets with urinals”.

The changes are in response to an unspecified number of complaints from trans students who are uncomfortable using the men’s toilets, reports BBC News website.

A university newspaper criticised the move but the student union said it was needed to tackle transphobia.  more 

Frank McGarahan,of Barclays Wealth, while saving a couple from gang assault in UK

• News
• UK news
• Crime

• City banker dies after trying to save couple from gang assault
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Adam Bell
• The Guardian, 
• Tuesday September 30 2008
• Article history

A senior banking executive died of head injuries after he intervened in a street brawl.

Police said Frank McGarahan, 45, who was the chief operating officer , sustained a "fatal injury" early on Sunday morning after witnessing an assault in Norwich. Witnesses said the father-of-two intervened when a group of youths assaulted a young couple.

He was waiting with his one of his younger brothers and another relative when the incident occurred.

A member of Mr McGarahan's family told the Daily Mail: "They were at the back of the queue waiting quietly to go back to their hotel when they saw an assault taking place on a young man and his girlfriend by a mob of nine or 10 blokes in their early 20s. ....more

Yves Rossy flies over English Channel at a speed of 200km per hour

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Switzerland's Yves Rossy flying with a jet-propelled single wing over the Alps in Bex, Switzerland in May. Rossy crossed the English Channel in 13 minutes, averaging 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour. By Anja Niedringhaus, AP Swiss man flies over English Channel on jet-propelled wing Posted 3h 19m ago | Comments3 | Recommend2 E-mail | Save | Print |
Enlarge By Michel Setboun, National Geographic Channel and Jetman Live via AP Rossy parachutes to the ground near Dover, England, after he completed his attempt to cross the English Channel. Rossy passed over a thin strip of land in front of South Foreland lighthouse, looped over onlookers and opened his parachute, his wings still strapped to his back. Yahoo! Buzz  Digg  Newsvine  Reddit  Facebook What's this? DOVER, England (AP) — He had nothing above him but four tanks of kerosene and nothing below him but the cold waters of the English Channel. But Yves Rossy leapt from a plane and into the record books on Friday, crossing the channel on a homemade jet-propelled wing. Rossy jumped from the plane about 2,500 meters (8,200 feet) over Calais, France, blasting across the narrow body of water and deploying his parachute over the South Foreland lighthouse, delighting onlookers who dotted Dover's famous white cliffs, cheering and waving as Rossy came into view. Backed by a gentle breeze, Rossy crossed the Channel in 13 minutes, averaging 200 kilometers (125 miles) per hour. In a final flourish, he did a figure eight as he came over England, although the wind blew him away from his planned landing spot next to the lighthouse. ...>  Mor