40th year of massacre at World Tamil Research Conference remembered

[TamilNet, Saturday, 11 January 2014, 09:20 GMT]
Tamil politicians and activists in Jaffna on Wednesday observed the 40th year remembrance of the massacre carried out by the occupying Sri Lankan Police on the final day of the Fourth International Conference of Tamil Studies held in Jaffna in 1974. The massacre took place on 10th January, which was the final day of the conference. 

The occupying Sri Lankan Police, under the command of the then Assistant Superindentet of Police in Jaffna, Chandrasekara, launched an attack on the masses when Prof Naina Mohammad from Tamil Nadu was delivering his public speech.

Nine civilians were killed when the SL Police opened fire. The victims included 3 students, a teacher and a native doctor.

The Sri Lankan State had been trying to block participants from abroad attending the conference held in Jaffna in 1974 by delaying visas and was working against the conference being organized in Jaffna.

The attitude shown by the Sinhala State towards the conference coupled with the massacre of civilians was one of the reasons for the rise of Tamil militancy. Urumpiraay P. Sivakumaran took a vow to take revenge on the ASP Mr Chandrasekara, but he escaped an assassination attempt.

Later, the ASP was ‘rewarded’ for his services by the Sinhala State and he reached the highest echelons of the police service. 

Ilangkai Thamizh Arasuk Kadchi (ITAK) General Secretary Mavai Senathirajah, Northern Provincial Council (NPC) councillor Mr MK Sivajilingam of Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and councillor Ananthi Sasitharan, were among the political activists, who took part at the memorial event on Friday at Muttave’li in Jaffna.

Darwin’s Impeccable Methodology

By Kumar David -January 12, 2014

Prof Kumar David

The materialist scientist par excellence: Darwin’s impeccable methodology

Darwin was a more consistent materialist than Marx in theoretical exertion for the reason that the latter’s domain was human society, and inescapably, he had to wander into social consciousness, subjective influences and ideologies, the role of leaders and peoples, and class and race awareness. Darwin’s good fortune was that his field of exploration troubled him with no such intrusions by man or god; hence he was an impeccable practitioner of the materialist methodology. An intelligent designer is redundant to practical science and if he/she/it (hereafter ‘It’) exists, would make not one iota of difference to one scientific theory. That is, ‘It’ has nothing to do with the practice of functioning science whose domain is exclusively materialist. The spirit does not factor in the choice of equations or god set input parameters.

The story that Darwin told

That great designer cannot be observed, measured, weighed, no known spectrometer is sensitive to its spectral spread, no Geiger counter can register its emissions, and no antenna can intercept its electromagnetic radiation. No scientist in the prosecution of scientific work batted an eyelid or stopped to hear a pin drop from It. Scientific activity is exclusively materialistic. That quaint and irrelevant designer occupies a different parallel universe.

Does this mean that outstanding scientists cannot believe in god? Plenty of fine scientists, involved up to the neck in 100% materialist scientific work, are thoroughly religious; so experience says the answer is no. They do not seem to suffer philosophical schizophrenia – I have some difficulty in living in two mentally watertight compartments. I guess this tells us more about the structure of the mind than about the pursuit of science.

If precedence is excuse there is justification for compartmentalised crania. Newton, indisputably the greatest scientist ever, was a strange fellow. One compartment in his brain was sheer genius inventing the calculus, crafting classical mechanics, solving the riddle of the heavens, explaining the tides and delving into the theory of light. But other boxes were decidedly peculiar. He indulged in alchemy to find the ‘philosopher’s stone’ to turn base metal into gold, and invoked the occult seeking to distil the ‘elixir of life’ which grants eternal life. He also wrote arcane tracts on Biblical topics. Thankfully, antiquities greatest scientist-mathematician, Archimedes of Syracuse, who stands between Newton and Darwin in schoolboy rankings of greatest scientist of all time, was like Darwin quite normal and shunned the occult and the theological.  Read More

US DIPLOMAT TO LEAVE DELHI EMBASSY AMID KHOBRAGADE ROW

Devyani Khobragade with her father on arrival back in Delhi

January 11, 2014 
The US has confirmed that an American official will leave its embassy in Delhi at India’s request, amid a diplomatic row.

The US state department said it deeply regretted the move and hoped that it would bring closure to the case.

The row erupted after Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was arrested in New York on charges of visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper.

She was asked to leave and arrived back in Delhi on Friday evening.

The state department said it now hoped India would return to constructive ties with the US.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: “We deeply regret that the Indian government felt it was necessary to expel one of our diplomatic personnel.

“This has clearly been a challenging time in the US-India relationship. We expect and hope that this will now come to closure and the Indians will take significant steps with us to improve our relationship and return it to a more constructive place,” she said.

The expelled diplomat has not been named.

Sources told Agence France-Presse that the individual was of similar rank and had been involved in the Khobragade case.

India had demanded an apology after Ms Khobragade, 39, was handcuffed and strip-searched following her arrest last month. It refused to waive her immunity.

Ms Khobragade has always denied any wrongdoing.

On Thursday she was indicted by a US federal grand jury in Manhattan, but was also granted immunity by US officials, paving the way for her to return to India.

She arrived back in the Indian capital at about 22:30 (17:00 GMT) on Friday.

Her father, Uttam Khobragade, said: “We are very relaxed and happy that she is back home. We are filled with joy.”

He added: “We are overwhelmed by the country’s support.”

Ms Khobragade was arrested after a complaint from her maid, Sangeeta Richard.

She in turn accused Ms Richard of theft and attempted blackmail.

Delhi said it was “shocked and appalled” at the manner of her arrest, and ordered a series of diplomatic reprisals against the US.

Security barricades around the US embassy in the capital were removed and a visiting US delegation was snubbed by senior Indian politicians and officials.

On Wednesday, the embassy was ordered to stop “commercial activities on its premises”. India also said that embassy cars could be penalised for traffic offences.

The embassy has been told to shut down a club within its premises which includes a pool, restaurant and tennis court, NDTV news channel said. - BBC

Ideas in Action - Interview with the Dalai Lama

January 11, 2014 

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's interview on Ideas in Action with Jim Glassman, recorded in Dallas, Texas, on May 10, 2011 and broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System in the USA on June 2, 2011. Video courtesy of Ideas in Action.

Human Compassion

JUSTICE FOR THEIR CHILDREN...

January 10, 2014 

A group of parents whose children had passed the Grade five scholarship examination with outstanding results but had failed to gain entrance into better schools arrived at the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission where their petition was heard today (January 10). The Teachers Union was also present at the Commission. (Pics by Sanjeewa Lasantha)

Stop harassing Ex-CJ: Lawyers for Democracy (Video)

Details

 

Created On Saturday, 11 January 2014 04:57

Category: General

While urging the Government to stop harassing former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, the Lawyers for Democracy said today they would continue to do explore all possible avenues in seeking justice for Dr. Bandaranayake.

“Dr. Bandaranayake is still being harassed though it has been one year since her unconstitutional impeachment. She is either summoned to the Bribery Commission or to Courts frequently. This should be stopped,” Attorney J.C. Weliamuna said.

He said Sri Lanka’s legal fraternity together with civil society groups and international organisations would launch several campaigns to obtain justice for Dr. Bandaranayake.

Lawyers’ Collective marks impeachment, blasts government 

     January 11, 2014 

By Stanley Samarasinghe
 
The Lawyers’ Collective held a media conference, at the Nippon Hotel in Colombo yesterday, to mark the first anniversary of the impeachment of the 43rd Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake.
 
They named the day as ‘Black Friday’. One year ago today the Parliamentary Select Committee report, on the charges set out in impeachment motion against Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, was accepted.
 
Attorney-at-Law, J.C. Weliamuna, expressing his views said it was on 11 January 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka removed  Dr. Bandaranayake from her position as Chief Justice.
 
By doing so, the government eliminated the rule of law and independence of this country thereby denying democracy to the people of this country, he said. “After that most unfair and illegal act of the government, the rule of law and independence of this country has declined drastically.”Weliamuna contended that the lawyer community of this country protested and warned the government against implementing the impeachment of the Chief Justice but the government went ahead with its plans.
 
Weliamuna point out that this was done purposely to make the Judges of this country act according the orders of the government. By doing so, the government had displayed its undemocratic stance to the international community.
He stressed that, that lawyers community of this country cannot forget that outrages and mysterious act and would continue to fight against it to protect the people of this country from injustice.
 
President’s Counsel Srinath Perera pointed out that Sri Lanka’s President is the Chairman of Commonwealth Countries Association and he has to follow the conventions, laws and ethics of that association.
“He, as the President of this country has set a very bad example to the world, however, now he has an opportunity to correct himself by restoring the Rule of Law,” he said.
 
President’s Counsel Jayampathi Wickramaratne said, government went ahead with that outrageous act disregarding the Constitution of the country and two judgments delivered by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
People of the country have now realized that the government has committed a very serious crime by removing the Chief Justice for their personal gains, he said.
 
Attorney-at-Law, K.S. Ratnaviel, commented that the government displayed its desire to govern this country in dictatorial manner.
 
It commenced with attacking the Mannar Magistrate and extended it to the Chief Justice. 
The people of this country must consider this seriously because they will have to suffer under this government, he said.
 
 Attorney-at-Law, Chandrapala Kumarage, said it was sad to commemorate the incident but the manner in which the government implemented impeachment motion could not be disregarded.
“This gives an indication to the people of this country as to how the government is going to govern the country in future.
 
“In the history of the world we have examples of Hitler who came to power in Germany and consolidate his political power and how he destroyed the country and world. Therefore, we must constantly fight against this type of blatant disregard of law,” he said.
 
Even after removing Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake from the post of Chief Justice, the government continued to harass her, said Attorney-at-Law Sunil Watagala.
 
According to him, the country by now has gone very far in disregarding the rule of law and eliminating the independence of the Judiciary.
 
“If we go back to the 2013, there were numerous incidents where the laws of the country were disregarded, such as shooting people at Ratupaswala, who pleaded for drinking water, containers with ethanol daily reaching the Colombo Harbour, Prime Minister’s Media Secretary writing letters to release a container of heroine and now a complaint against the Bribery Commissioner.

Law Of Attraction, Buddhism And Faith Based Religions

By Mahendra De Silva –January 11, 2014 

Recently I had an opportunity to read some inspirational books on Law of Attraction. Law of Attraction theory became popular in the world especially after Napoleon Hill in 1937 published his book “Think and grow rich.”  Then there was “ The Law of Attraction” by Ester & Jerry Hicks.  Based on these books Rhonda Byrne has produced a book and a movie ‘Secret” which gained widespread attention in the media. I also listened Wayne Dyer, an inspirational speaker who is spreading the same message in a very thought provoking manner.

What is law of Attraction?

Law of Attraction (LA) works by “believing in something so strongly that it manifests itself into reality” In summary LA is simply Ask, Believe and Receive. That is whatever the mind can conceive and believe mind can achieve, regardless of how many times you have failed in the past. We have heard the saying “Like attracts like” and “Birds of feather flock together” Law of Attraction is the extension of same concept further. This belief is based upon the idea that people and their thoughts are both made from pure energy, and the belief that like energy attracts like energy. One example used by a proponent of the law of attraction is that if a person opened an envelope expecting to see a bill, then the law of attraction would “confirm” those thoughts and contain a bill when opened. A person who decided to instead expect a cheque might, under the same law, find a cheque instead of a bill.

In our country Buddhists very often go to churches, Hindu Kovils and many other sacred places to make vows to achieve their desires.

First step to accomplish is to have a strong desire to achieve your goal which should be clear in your mind. Your desire should be sincere and genuine. It should always in your heart and in your memory until you achieve it. Esther in her book “Law of Attraction” also suggests that it would be more effective, if we start implanting the request in mind after a brief breathing meditation session. What happens after some time in meditation is that mind will be in a calm and tranquil stage, which is the best environment to plant the suggestion to inner consciousness.Read More

Police terrorist DIG Sumith on the rampage : defies courts, threatens cops, releases suspects in custody

(Lanka-e-News-11.Jan.2014,9.30PM) Notorious infamous DIG Sumith Edirisinghe had acted most viciously, violently and unlawfully worse than a terrorist leader disregarding even court directives , based on an incident reported to Lanka e news inside information division. Of course this may be in keeping with the jungle laws that are being advocated by the beasts of the Rajapakse regime and are raging in the country, but that does not give cause to Edirisinghe as a law enforcer to descend to the level of a brute and terrorist specially because he is paid a salary to discharge law enforcing duties on behalf of the people out of the funds of the people .

Since the DIG of western – north Peliyagoda division, L P Kularatne is on leave these days , this terrorist brute Sumith Edirisinghe is acting for him. The notorious DIG Sumith had acted most high handedly and after visiting the police station , forcibly released an accused couple held in the custody of the Peliyagoda police special crimes investigation unit, after citing the ground that they are from his village. He had also threatened the police that if they are not released he would see to it the police station is razed to the ground.

Of course these types of unlawful action were earlier resorted to by the LTTE terrorists . In the initial stages of LTTE terror , when their cadres were not released by the police , the LTTE razed the police station to the ground via a suicide bomber .Thereafter the LTTE administration was put in place of the destroyed police station. Now, this lawless DIG Sumith alias ‘Sumith master’ under an equally lawless ruling terror regime following the same lines of LTTE terror is after disdainfully discarding the court order and the police ordinance , introducing a police terrorist administration of his own.

Based on information reaching Lanka e news inside information division , the details of the episode is as follows :

Weerasekera Dushan Ranga residing at 265, Hospital road , Kiribathgoda had lodged a complaint with the police that the accused couple engaged in business had collected Rs. 510,000 from the complainant to provide a mobile phone and cheated him by dishonoring the promise. Since this fraud involves a sum more than Rs. 500,000 this case had been undertaken by the Peliyagoda special crime investigation bureau ( SCIB).

The complainant had lodged the complaint furnishing full evidence that it is the couple , Gamlathge Chamila Niroshan Gamlath and his wife Maureen Xavier residing at 138/5 , Jayasak mawatha , Hokandara who defrauded him. Accordingly the SCIB had submitted a B report 7126/2013 explaining the facts to the Mahara magistrate , and obtained an order from the court to arrest the couple. .

Based on the court order , the Peliyagoda SCIB after exerting great efforts was able to arrest the elusive couple yesterday (09) . Along with them the Montero jeep No. WPHO 9573 was also taken into custody. Since the suspects were arrested in the evening yesterday , they were to be produced before the court this morning (10) . 

Because the suspect , wife of Gamlath (husband) was arguing , the police SCIB officers had informed her to relate whatever she wants to in the court , and that they had only acted on court orders . 

Nevertheless at about midnight , DIG Sumith Edirisinghe under the influence of liquor had suddenly barged in , behaved like a lunatic and screamed that if the culprit couple from his village is not released , he would raze the police station to the ground, while scolding the police officers most insolently . Indeed he had unleashed terrorist threats and conducted himself like a monster . This police terrorist DIG had taken the register of the higher officers where their official movements are recorded , and written on it that this arrest is unlawful. This minute made by Sumith discarding and disregarding the court directive is alone proof that he is guilty of wanton contempt of court .

Not caring a hang for the laws of the country and throwing the court order into the garbage bin thereby further highlighting the utter lawlessness in the country under a bestial reign , the Peliyagoda SCIB under pressure released the culprit couple . 

Finally ‘Sumith aiyya’ the police terrorist after making the culprits to show their hindquarters mockingly to the Peliyagoda police headquarters , took the accused away in the Montero jeep .

The police are questioning from the IGP (Impotent General of police) whether the western north division is now left to the terror administration of the police terrorist ‘Sumith aiyya ’ , and to make law and order a mockery ?

Khuram Shaikh death: Missing Sri Lanka politician sought

British aid worker Khuram Shaikh was killed while on holiday in Tangalle in 2011

Sri Lankan police are looking for a politician who failed to appear in court accused of the alleged murder of a British aid worker.

10 January 2014 -Police have vowed to carry out the arrest of Sampath Vidanapathirana "today or tomorrow" - but his exact whereabouts are not clear.

Khuram Shaikh was shot and stabbed to death at a hotel in southern Sri Lanka on Christmas Day 2011.

Six men are accused of the murder of the Red Cross worker from Rochdale.

The men also face charges including the rape of a woman and possessing unlawful weapons.

Mr Vidanapathirana is the town council leader of Tangalle, the southern resort town in Sri Lanka where Mr Shaikh was killed.

Mr Shaikh, 32, had been working in Gaza fitting prosthetic limbs, but was on holiday in the resort.

Hospital admission

The arrest warrant against Mr Vidanapathirana was issued by the Colombo High Court after he failed to attend a procedural session on Thursday.

An associate said his absence was due to being admitted to a private hospital in Galle, but staff at the hospital said he has been discharged on 8 January.

The men have been on bail for over a year, with a trial date set for 26 March.

Before he attended last November's Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he would be raising the Khuram Shaikh case with authorities on the island.

Buddhist Psychotherapy

By Ruwan M Jayatunge -January 11, 2014 

Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge MD

Renowned Psychologists like William James, Carl Jung, and Eric Fromm saw much of value in Buddhist philosophy and its positive impact on mental health. The modern mental health clinicians have found incomparable therapeutic efficacy in Buddhist psychotherapy. Buddhist psychotherapy has become a major complementary therapeutic strategy in mental health. Recent research has highlighted the importance of Buddhist psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, factitious disorders, addiction disorders, medically unexplained symptoms and various other psychological ailments. Buddhist psychology is increasingly informing psychotherapeutic practice in the western world (Kelly, 2008).

Psychotherapy is generally defined as a means a treatment of emotional, behavioral, personality disorders based primarily upon verbal or nonverbal communication. Buddhism is a method of mind training (Bullen, 1994). In the Buddhistic approach, situational, and psychological states are viewed more holistically (Hall & Lindzey, 1978).  As Sherwood (2012) underlines Buddhist psychotherapy is based on the Buddhist model of the cause of mental suffering (the noble fourfold truths) and the notions of attachment, permanence and clinging to notions of self as the perpetrating forces of mental suffering.

Buddhist psychotherapy mainly deals with self-knowledge, thoughts, feelings and actions to minimize the psychological distress.  Neale (2012) views Buddhist psychotherapy as a novel approach to the clinical practice of mental health and it combines aspects of conventional psychotherapy with traditional Buddhist psychological theory and practice. According to Neale (2012) the objective of Buddhist psychotherapy as just being mindful of one’s momentary experience without judgment have failed to understand the crucial role that wisdom and action   play in the process of healing and change.

Buddhism and Western Psychology often overlap in theory and in practice. Over the last century, experts have written on many commonalities between Buddhism and various branches of modern western psychology like phenomenological psychology, psychoanalytical psychotherapy, humanistic psychology, cognitive psychology and existential psychology (Aich ,2013).

Mind and Mental Factors in Buddhism                                      Read More  

Philippines, Vietnam condemn China’s fishing law

By AP News Jan 11, 2014

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines and Vietnam condemned a new Chinese law that requires foreign fishermen to seek Beijing’s approval to operate in much of the South China Sea, but China’s Foreign Ministry insisted it has the right do so.

China’s assertiveness in pressing its claims in the strategic waters, which are believed to have significant seabed gas and oil deposits, has unnerved its smaller neighbors and created a potential military flash point. Anger is especially acute in the Philippines and Vietnam, which believe they have strong claims on waters off their shores.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Friday that the new Chinese regulation “escalates tensions, unnecessarily complicates the situation in the South China Sea, and threatens the peace and stability of the region.”

Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi said the law and other moves by China in recent months are “illegal and invalid” and seriously violate Vietnam’s sovereignty.

“Vietnam demands that China abolish the above said erroneous acts, and practically contribute to the maintenance of peace and stability in the region,” he said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Friday that there was no change to existing regulations but a technical amendment.

“There is no need at all to reinforce China’s long-standing and clear claim of rights and interests over the South China Sea by passing a local regulation,” Hua said.

“There is nothing wrong with the law and the regulation,” she said. “It is because those who read into the law adopted a wrong mindset.”

The Philippines said it asked China for clarification. It said the regulation, which took effect this month, reinforces China’s expansive territorial claims and violates international law, particularly the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea. It also said the rule was contrary to a 2002 declaration that China signed with the 10-member Association of the Southeast Asian Nations, including the Philippines and Vietnam, to refrain from changing the status quo.

The Philippines and Vietnam are among the most vocal critics of China’s claims over virtually the entire South China Sea, which infringe on their own 200-mile (322-kilometer) exclusive economic zones. China and other claimants have beefed up their navies and stepped up patrols around island groups also claimed by others, increasing the risk of confrontation.

The U.S. has also criticized China’s move, calling it “provocative and potentially dangerous.”

But China on Friday asked the United States to stay out, as Beijing prefers negotiations with individual countries. “If the U.S. really wants to safeguard regional peace and stability, it should respect and support relevant countries’ efforts to solve problems through direct dialogues and negotiation,” Hua said.

Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the South China Sea, which is an important global shipping route.

What Century Are We Living In? What Millennium? What World?

The Anti-Empire Report

| by William Blum

“At last the world knows America as the savior of the world!”

– President Woodrow Wilson, Paris Peace Conference, 1919

( January 11, 2014, Boston, Sri Lanka Guardian) The horrors reported each day from Syria and Iraq are enough to make one cry; in particular, the atrocities carried out by the al-Qaeda types: floggings; beheadings; playing soccer with the heads; cutting open dead bodies to remove organs just for mockery; suicide bombers, car bombs, the ground littered with human body parts; countless young children traumatized for life; the imposition of sharia law, including bans on music … What century are we living in? What millennium? What world?

People occasionally write to me that my unwavering antagonism toward American foreign policy is misplaced; that as awful as Washington’s Museum of Horrors is, al-Qaeda is worse and the world needs the United States to combat the awful jihadists.

“Let me tell you about the very rich,” F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote. “They are different from you and me.”

And let me tell you about American leaders. In power, they don’t think the way you and I do. They don’t feel the way you and I do. They have supported “awful jihadists” and their moral equivalents for decades. Let’s begin in 1979 in Afghanistan, where the Moujahedeen (“holy warriors”) were in battle against a secular, progressive government supported by the Soviet Union; a “favorite tactic” of the Moujahedeen was “to torture victims [often Russians] by first cutting off their nose, ears, and genitals, then removing one slice of skin after another”, producing “a slow, very painful death”.

With America’s massive and indispensable military backing in the 1980s, Afghanistan’s last secular government (bringing women into the 20th century) was overthrown, and out of the victorious Moujahedeen arose al Qaeda.

During this same period the United States was supporting the infamous Khmer Rouge of Cambodia; yes, the same charming lads of Pol Pot and The Killing Fields.

President Carter’s National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was a leading force behind the US support of both the Moujahedeen and the Khmer Rouge. What does that tell you about that American leader? Or Jimmy Carter – an inspiration out of office, but a rather different person in the White House? Or Nobel Peace Laureate Barack Obama, who chose Brzezinski as one of his advisers?

Another proud example of the United States fighting the awful jihadists is Kosovo, an overwhelmingly Muslim province of Serbia. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began an armed conflict with Belgrade in the early 1990s to split Kosovo from Serbia. The KLA was considered a terrorist organization by the US, the UK and France for years, with numerous reports of the KLA having contact with al-Qaeda, getting arms from them, having its militants trained in al-Qaeda camps in Pakistan, and even having members of al-Qaeda in KLA ranks fighting against Serbia. But Washington’s imperialists, more concerned about dealing a blow to Serbia, “the last communist government in Europe”, supported the KLA.

The KLA have been known for their torture and trafficking in women, heroin, and human body parts (sic). The United States has naturally been pushing for Kosovo’s membership in NATO and the European Union.

More recently the US has supported awful jihadists in Libya and Syria, with awful consequences.

It would, moreover, be difficult to name a single brutal dictatorship of the second half of the 20th Century that was not supported by the United States; not only supported, but often put into power and kept in power against the wishes of the population. And in recent years as well, Washington has supported very repressive governments, such as Saudi Arabia, Honduras, Indonesia, Egypt, Colombia, Qatar, and Israel.

Not exactly the grand savior our sad old world is yearning for. (Oh, did I mention that Washington’s policies create a never-ending supply of terrorists?)

And what do American leaders think of their own record? Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was probably speaking for the whole private club when she wrote that in the pursuit of its national security the United States no longer needed to be guided by “notions of international law and norms” or “institutions like the United Nations” because America was “on the right side of history.”

Cambodia’s garment factory workers: Ripe for exploitation

An injured Cambodian worker escapes from riot police during clashes in Phnom Penh last November. Pic: AP

.

By Albeiro Rodas Jan 11, 2014

Eight days after the crackdown on garment factory workers and opposition rallies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia seems normal this weekend. The national television continues its regular programs showing Thai and Korean soap operas, karaoke videos and news about curious things in the West like the polar freezing in US or “national news” like the January 7′s Liberation Day Anniversary. The crackdown gets some mentions on TV, such as to announce that factories are  filing cases in court against trade unions for “incitement to strike, damage to property and assets”.

Cambodia’s garment factory workers Ripe for exploitation by nelvely

Israel to build 1,400 new homes on disputed land

New Jewish settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem are likely to hamper progress of John Kerry peace talks

The move had been expected as a concession to Israel’s rightwing lobby after the release of Palestinian prisoners in December. Photograph: Oliver Weiken/EPA

Friday 10 January 2014

Israel plans to build 1,400 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territory the Palestinians claim for their state.

Israel's housing ministry announced on Friday that 800 new houses would be built in the West Bank and 600 in East Jerusalem – a contentious move that is likely to further hamper the progress of peace talks led by the US secretary of state, John Kerry.

Saeb Erekat, a leading Palestinian negotiator in the peace process, said Israel's announcement was an indication of its "commitment to the destruction of peace efforts and the imposition of an apartheid regime.

"This Israeli government is openly displaying its true agenda. The announcement of yet more settlement units at this particular moment is a test for the US administration's ability to hold Israel accountable for actively sabotaging their efforts for peace.

"Such an announcement should also serve as a reminder to the international community to sever all ties with the Israeli occupation."

The announcement had been expected as a concession to Israel's rightwing nationalist lobby after the Jewish state released 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners in late December, part of a deal made last summer when Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed.

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has previously issued similar construction announcements to blunt hardline criticism at home of prisoner releases, as many of those released were convicted of killing Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Friday's announcement was apparently postponed until after a visit by Kerry, who was in the region last week.