Pursuit of justice

Editorial-February 1, 2016, 7:40 pm 

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has asked the government to arrest him and spare his family members. He says the recent arrest of his second son, Yoshitha, is part of a sinister campaign to force him into submission. His political opponents have welcomed legal action against Yoshitha and they have even predicted some more arrests.

Let there be no argument about the need to institute legal action against those who abused power and amassed wealth through illegal means under the previous government. That is exactly what the vast majority of people who voted for the present government have unequivocally asked for. However, the question is whether justice is seen to be done.

The government will have a hard time, trying to convince the discerning public that its hunt for the wrongdoers of the previous government is devoid of a political agenda. For, the ruling party politicians predict arrests weeks in advance and the government’s friends within the Opposition ranks invariably raise questions in Parliament about the persons to be arrested so that the government’s answers thereto will show the suspects in a bad light. Thereafter, arrests are made and the suspects remanded. This has been the trend since the change of government in January 2015.

What one should be concerned about is the country’s democratic well-being not anyone’s interests. The Rajapaksas, while they were ensconced in power, thought they were invincible and subjugated the law of the land to their political and personal interests. ‘Show arrests’ and show trials which characterised the previous administration unfortunately continue; they are bound to have an adverse impact on what remains of the credibility of the law enforcement and judicial processes. The Rajapaksas are crying foul today. The boot will be on the other foot the day the present-day rulers are out of power. Hence, the pressing need for ridding the investigative and judicial processes of partisan politics so that justice will prevail!

The government is, no doubt, under pressure to fulfil its election pledges, bringing the rogues of the previous administration to justice being one of them. But, it ought to be mindful of the fact that any attempt to accelerate the investigative and judicial process unnecessarily will only make its efforts look politically-motivated and aimed at the next election.

It is well nigh impossible to trace the ill-gotten wealth of politicians who have been in power for a long time. They cover their tracks and ensure that no charges can be pinned on them. The fact that the incumbent government has failed to prove allegations of corruption against the grandees of the previous administration does not mean that those characters are squeaky clean. Perhaps, the government will never be able to make most of them or even all of them pay for their sins legally however hard it may try. That is the reality.

There have been many crooks who have thrived on corrupt deals under UNP and SLFP governments and they have all got away with their offences because they concealed their trails effectively. Some of them who possessed only rickety cars in 1977, when they were first elected to Parliament, amassed enough wealth to buy estates down under and mansions in Blighty within a few years in office. The late Anura Bandaranaike as an Opposition MP once famously said in Parliament that he knew of an SLFP stalwart cum minister who was a proud owner of many vehicles, several houses and estates, both here and abroad, though the latter, in penury, had ridden an old bicycle wearing flip-flops before entering politics.

It hurts every parent to see his or her children arrested and thrown into hellholes that are our prisons. The practice of setting the police on Opposition politicians and their family members is not of recent origin. Weeks before the last Presidential election, Opposition common candidate, Maithripala Sirisena’s son, Daham, was linked to a stash of foreign currency amounting to Rs. 160 mn, which the CID and the Central Bank officials found and produced before the Mt. Lavinia Court. The then government did its damnedest to have the young man arrested, but in vain. The police at that time made a hue and cry about that detection of foreign currency exactly the way the present-day police spokesman is doing as regards the allegations against Yoshitha. Incidentally, it will be interesting to know from the CID and the Central Bank what has become of the investigations into that probe.

Namal’s Stewardess’ ‘Unelected’ Union Exposes SriLankan Airlines Fraud

February 2, 2016

Namal Rajapaksa’s stewardess girl’s ‘unelected’ group of cabin crew union members, having sent a letter of demand to the airline’s management have gone on to expose a financial fraud that the national carrier has been guilty of, Colombo Telegraph can reveal today.

Assistant Secretary Senanaya

The letter of demand sent by Assistant SecretaryNithya Senanaya Samaranayaka and her team without the consent or knowledge of its 1082 strong membership, is that the airline has not paid the crew Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Employee Trust Fund (ETF) for meal allowances earned since its inception.

In their quest to prove that the airline had deprived the crew of EPF /ETF on meal allowances received both internationally and locally, they have highlighted that the airline has made payments to its staff in the billions and neglected to make it known to the treasury.

A present day crew member’s meal allowance earnings on overseas flights is approximately US $ 1000.

This is not been reflected as earnings in their official monthly salary.

Further the claim also goes on to expose a far more serious fraud where meal allowances earned for turnaround flights are converted to the rupee equivalent and paid separately along with their salary.

This payment too is untaxed and paid in violation of Inland Revenue statutes.

A senior manager of the airline speaking on condition of anonymity, as he is not permitted to speak to the media confirmed that the letter of demand had been received by the airline’s management.

“This claim which runs into the billions will seal the fate of the airline and cost the near 6800 employees their jobs.” the senior manager went on to say.

Others who have benefitted from this arrangement such as the airline’s pilots and engineers have now been caught off guard too by this demand.

Colombo Telegraph can confirm that an unofficial meeting took place between the airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Capt. Suren Ratwatte and the ‘unelected’ FAU committee yesterday. The CEO scoffed at the genuineness of their representation and told them to furnish proof of their legitimacy if they wished to meet him officially.                                          Read More 

Only if Monks approve it: PM

2016-02-02 23
The government will not proceed with the Theravada Kathikawath Bill if the monks oppose it, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told a group of monks, who met him at Temple Trees today.

 He said the Kathikawath Bill was prepared by the Buddhist Clergy and not by the government and that the matter had to be handled by the monks. 

“Decisions on issues pertaining to any religion should be taken by the relevant religious leaders and not by the government,” the Prime Minister said. 

He also requested the Maha Nayake Theras to introduce some mechanism to ensure the effective administration of Viharas and other Buddhist religious institutions abroad because of the issues which had cropped up from time to time. 

The Prime Minister also assured that it was the intention of the Government to make Sri Lanka the centre of Theravada Buddhism and added that it was essential to have an inventory of artifacts and treasures in ancient Temples so as to safeguard them. Further, he said a Sangha Adikaranaya (a special court) to hear cases pertaining to monks could be set up if the Buddhist clergy were interested in doing so. 

The Prime Minister said a committee under the Youth Centre would be set up to address the concerns faced by student Bikkhus and assured that the government would provide laptop computers to student monks. 

He suggested that and the Buddhist Clergy should have a dialogue on Buddhism with President Maithripala Sirisena and himself. (Yohan Perera)

Cases galore against Gnanassara ! His crony Vitharandeniye Nanda flees -Warrant issued

(Lanka-e-News -02.Jan.2016, 9.50PM) Galagoda Aththe Gnanassara Thera ‘s bosom pal and closest crony  Vitharandeniye  Nanda had fled the country dodging the court order !

When a case against the robed murderous monks of the BBS including Gnanassara and  Vitharandeniye Nanda  was called up today , Sudharshani Gunarathne the lawyer appearing for the robed monks Vitharandeniye Nanda and Kirinde Chandananda told court that they have gone overseas , when they were absent in court. The lawyer said , they have left the country in connection with ‘Dharma propaganda’ activities. Nevertheless , the Fort magistrate cum additional district court judge Priyantha Liyanage pointed out they have not been granted permission by the court. In other words they have fled the country despite the ban imposed on their foreign travel by the court and  without informing .  Hence this is a very grave issue. 

Nanda of the BBS was  having very close ties directly  with Gotabaya Rajapakse. In every conspiracy of the latter,Nanda was a key player and witness. 

When the case in which Vitharandeniya Nanda is the second accused  and Kirigalpoththe Chandananda is the sixth accused was called up , the judge issued warrants against the two accused when they did not appear in court. These two accused were involved in the disruption of a media briefing held by Ven . Watareka Vijitha Thera  at Nippon hotel in April 2014 by  intruding into its midst. 

In that incident of breaking into the meeting at Nippon hotel and creating mayhem , the case was filed against the accused ,  Galagoda Aththe Gnanassara ,  Vitharandeniye Nanda , Welimada Chandarathne , Wellampitiye Sumanadhamma . Ariyawangshagama Samudhi , Kirigalpoththe Chandananda who are monks , and Panani Wewela  and Kankanam Pathirage Gunawardena . 

Another case in which the holy Quran was tretaed  insolently was also taken up today for trial. The prime suspect Gnanassara who is now in remand custody was not produced in court . The judge ordered the  Prison Commissioner General to produce him at the next court date.

When the Slave Island police summoned Gnanassara to record a statement in connection with the hotel Nippon incident , Gnanassara who arrived at the police ,while addressing the media made statements that were derogatory of the holy Quran of the Islamic faith . This case was based on a complaint made to the CCD by Noordeen Mohomed Thajudeen on 2014 -04-16 .

Lawyers Maithri Gunaratne , Sarath Siriwardena and Shiraz Noordeen appeared on behalf of the complainant , while lawyer Sudharshani Gunaratne appeared for the accused.

According to reports reaching Lanka e news , cases are to be filed against Gnanassara in relation to the murder and mayhem created by Gnanassara  at Alutgama  where arson was committed, damage to property  was caused , and  a fear psychosis was created among the innocent residents .

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by     (2016-02-02 16:27:40)

Sinha-Le and the ethno-religious identity wars

Minorities assert their identity by overtly ethno-religious or other ideological displays as a reaction to dominance by a majority. The majority feels threatened and jacks up its own displays of identity, ensuing an escalation of identity wars

 Wednesday, 3 February 2016

One has to admit that the Sinha-Le poster is well designed in terms of aesthetics. The quality of the poster indeed points to some level of sophistication in design and execution though the message it attempts to convey is unwholesome. Apparent spontaneity of its acceptance too shows that the message has hit a chord in society. Pictures of private property spray-painted with the symbols send shivers up the spine, but to attribute the lawful display of the symbol simply to racism or stupidity is not the right reaction. 

Sadly it is exactly what we are hearing. Recently a senior minister was heard repeating a quote found on social media. Sinha-Le means that The Sinhalese have their beginnings in Bestiality (Suppadevi copulating with a Lion), Patricide (Sinhabhu killing the lion, his father), Incest (Sinhabahu marrying his sister Singhaseevali) and so on. These smart quotes miss the point, I believe.

All ethnic or religious identities are based on stories that are more fiction than fact. Often these stories are atrocities dressed up as heroic deeds. In his essay ‘How to build a nation,’ Fukuyama quotes from Machiavelli to note, “All just enterprises including current liberal democracies originate in an original crime.” Over time these stories get whitewashed and embellished and become part of the culture. Ridiculing or even dismissal using logic makes these stories all the more precious to those who find meaning in them.

As Fukuyama further notes, building a new nation can only be done from within. That means whether you are a minority or the majority you need to understand the fears of the other, leaving arguments of who came first in what manner to historians.

Identity wars

One approach is not to blame but to view actions and reactions of various communities as part of the ethno-religious identity wars that continue unabated in Sri Lanka or across the world for that matter. Minorities assert their identity by overtly ethno-religious or other ideological displays as a reaction to dominance by a majority. The majority feels threatened and jacks up its own displays of identity, ensuing an escalation of identity wars. 

See more 

Embilipitiya killing ASP arrested

BY Cassendra Doole and Premalal Wijeratne-2016-02-03

Former Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) D.W.C. Dharmaratne of the Embilipitiya Police Station was arrested yesterday by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in connection with the death of a man in Embilipitiya. Police sources said the CID had recorded a statement from the ASP last morning and placed him under arrest. The ASP and the HQI were ordered to be arrested and produced before Court while the other suspects were ordered to be produced at an identification parade.

However, no arrests were made until yesterday – a lapse of three weeks since the incident and over a week after the arrest order was issued. The Police spokesman had said that Police officers cannot be arrested without instructions from the Attorney General.
It has been over three weeks since Sumith Prasanna was allegedly pushed over an upper floor balcony railing to his death, in the course of a raid on that house, by the Embilipitiya Police.

Palestinian Authority officer turns his gun on Israel

Mourners carry the body of Amjad Sukkar during the man’s funeral on 1 February, a day after he opened fire on Israeli soldiers and was shot dead at a checkpoint near Ramallah.
Nedal EshtayahAPA images

Maureen Clare Murphy

1 February 2016

After a Palestinian Authority staff sergeant was shot dead when he allegedly opened fire on and wounded three Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on Sunday, Israel’s leading newspaper described the incident as “the nightmare scenario that has worried Israel for months.”

Israel has since put the Ramallah area of the occupied West Bank, where the incident took place, under indefinite closure.

The incident will deepen the divide between Israel’s political leadership and its military, which have failed to find consensus on how to respond to four months of sharply increased and unending deadly confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers and settlers.

“The terrorist gets his salary from the Palestinian Authority – they are behind the incitement that motivates terror against Israel,” Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday.

“Abbas did not condemn the attack carried out by one of his men. While Israel is fighting terrorism, the international community must stop the hypocrisy and demand that the Palestinian Authority stop incitement that fans the flames of terrorism,” the Israeli prime minister added.

Sunday’s deadly incident took place at the Beit El settlement near Ramallah, the seat of the PA.

Built on Palestinian land, Beit El houses the Israeli Civil Administration, the bureaucratic arm of the military occupation, and its district office. It has been a site of regular confrontation by Palestinian youths protesting against both the Israeli occupation and the PA’s security coordination with Israel.

PA forces have at times forcibly dispersed those demonstrations, and Israel has used live fire against protesting youth at Beit El, killing two, one of them a child.

Netanyahu has previously blamed media incitement and PA leader Mahmoud Abbas for the alleged attacks at settlements and checkpoints, while the Israeli military and intelligence establishment maintains that continued security coordination with the PA is essential for preventing a further escalation of violence.

                                                             Read More

‘It is either freedom or death’ says wife of Palestinian hunger striker 

Hunger striker’s family tells of loving family man and dedicated journalist striving for justice 

A Palestinian boy walks past a mural depicting Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq, during a demonstration on 1 February, 2016 in Gaza city (AFP) 

Sheren Khalel-Tuesday 2 February 2016

DURA, Occupied Palestinian Territories - When Fayha Salash talks of the man her husband is, she speaks with a smile - even if the circumstances are dire. Her husband, Mohammed al-Qiq, has been on hunger strike for 70 days and counting. His lawyers describe him as close to death with Robert Piper, a top UN official in the region on Tuesday saying he was “alarmed by [al-Qiq’s] rapidly deteriorating health”.

He has now lost the power of speech, with family now fearing for the worst.

“If I want any one thing to be clear, it is that my husband is not suicidal,” Salash said. “My husband loves life, he loves me and his children and his job very much. He is a dedicated father and journalist and he is doing this for no other reason than for justice, not for death.”

Al-Qiq was arrested on 21 November at his home in Ramallah for alleged terrorist links and has been held without trial under Israel’s controversial administrative detention policy which allows prisoners to be held without charge or trial, indefinitely.

On 27 January, al-Qiq’s lawyer, Jawad Bulous, brought an appeal to Israel’s supreme court, which requested al-Qiq be released from administrative detention due to his health. The request was denied, and al-Qiq, a 33-year-old journalist originally from Dura, outside Hebron, has remained behind bars.

Following the ruling, the EU expressed its disapproval of al-Qiq’s internment without charge or trial. The statement said al-Qiq, like the more than 500 other Palestinians being held on administrative detention, “have the right to be informed about the charges underlying any detention, must be granted access to legal assistance, and be subject to a fair trial.”

The EU missions added that they were “especially concerned about the deteriorating health condition of the Palestinian journalist”.

Israeli authorities have told al-Qiq’s lawyer that the reporter for Saudi-owned TV channel Almajd is being held under administrative detention for “incitement” against Israel, as well as working with Hamas, a Palestinian political party which rules the Gaza Strip and is considered illegal under Israeli law. Israeli authorities have also said al-Qiq is a “threat to the security of the area,” according to Amnesty International, which has also spoken out against his detention.

Salash denied the claims. She said her husband takes his job as a journalist very seriously, and that he was instead detained because of his work with Almajd or Glory in Arabic.  

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The Burundi Intervention That Wasn’t

When the African Union threatened to force a peacekeeping mission, Burundi called its bluff — and threw the pan-African body’s credibility into question in the process.

BY TY MCCORMICK-FEBRUARY 2, 2016

NAIROBI — A week after Burundian security services responded to a rebel attack by rounding up and executing dozens of suspected insurgents on Dec. 12, 2015, allegedly dumping their bodies in shallow mass graves in the capital, the African Union surprised observers by authorizing a 5,000-strong peacekeeping mission and threatening to deploy it over the objections of the Burundian government.

The move was hailed as a shrewd form of coercive diplomacy and a sign that the African Union might be better prepared than the United Nations to respond to the escalating crisis in Burundi. As top Western and U.N. diplomats wrung their hands over the threat of mass atrocities, the AU’s authorization of the African Prevention and Protection Mission in Burundi (MAPROBU) stood out as an exemplar of the AU’s mantra of “African solutions for African problems.”

That was before last weekend’s AU summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where high-minded ideas about continental solutions ran headlong into the crude political realities of an institution that has long been accused of prioritizing the interests of member heads of state over all else. Led by aging and unaccountable strongmen like Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who came out publicly against MAPROBU at the summit, the AU Assembly, the organization’s highest decision-making authority comprising heads of state, decided not to deploy the proposed peacekeeping mission and walked back the AU’s threat to force it on the Burundian government.

“It has been, I think, bad communication.It was never the intention of the African Union to deploy a mission to Burundi without the consent of Burundian authorities,” Ibrahima Fall, the AU special representative for the Great Lakes region, told French radio RFI on Sunday. “This is unimaginable.”

Established in 2001 to replace the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the original pan-African association of the postcolonial era, the African Union has played a much more aggressive role than its predecessor in solving the continent’s myriad armed conflicts. In the words of Alpha Oumar Konaré, former chairman of the AU Commission, it has replaced the OAU’s doctrine of “non-interference” in the affairs of member states with one of “non-indifference.”

More Story>>>

How the CIA Helped Fuel the Rise of ISIS

The C.I.A. was mostly on the sidelines during this period, authorized by the White House under the Timber Sycamore training program to deliver nonlethal aid to the rebels but not weapons. In late 2012, according to two former senior American officials, David H. Petraeus, then the C.I.A. director, delivered a stern lecture to intelligence officials of several gulf nations at a meeting near the Dead Sea in Jordan. He chastised them for sending arms into Syria without coordinating with one another or with C.I.A. officers in Jordan and Turkey.

by Jeremy R. Hammond

( February 1, 2016, Boston, Sri Lanka Guardian) The New York Times tosses previously reported facts down the memory hole, whitewashing the US’s role in Syria leading ultimately to the rise of ISIS.

The Media’s Longstanding Propaganda Narrative

I have written repeatedly about how the Times‘ reporting serves as propaganda, manufacturing consent for a US interventionist policy in Syria, as the Times has repeatedly advocated.

For instance, in “NYT’s Bill Keller’s Propaganda Case for War with Syria” (May 2013), I wrote:

I find myself commenting again and again and again and again and again on how the U.S. media (following the lead of America’s “newspaper of record”) is being willfully dishonest with the public and attempting to whitewash the actual U.S. role in the Syrian conflict by tossing relevant facts down the memory hole; namely, the facts that (1) the CIA has already been coordinating the flow of arms to the rebels, and (2) most of those arms have indeed ended up in the hands of Islamic extremists. Read the full article here 

Read the full article here 

Jeremy R. Hammond IS an award-winning independent political analyst, author, and founding editor and publisher of Foreign Policy Journal. the author of two books, The Rejection of Palestinian Self-Determination: The Struggle for Palestine and the Roots of the Israeli-Arab Conflict (2009) and Ron Paul vs. Paul Krugman: Austrian vs. Keynesian Economics in the Financial Crisis. 

Read more>>>

Iowa count: Clinton nudges past Sanders in photo-finish race

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.). (Right to left: Melina Mara/The Washington Post; Lucian Perkins for The Washington Post)

By Anne Gearan and John Wagner-February 2

DES MOINES — Hillary Clinton appeared to squeak past insurgent rival Sen. Bernie Sanders in Iowa’s presidential nominating vote, according to results Tuesday, redeeming a crushing loss here in 2008 but revealing the shortcomings of a candidate who once seemed invincible.

Results from Iowa’s Democratic Party, announcing 100 percent of the precincts counted, gave Clinton a whisker-thin margin: 49.8 percent to Sanders’s 49.6 percent — setting up what is likely to become a prolonged contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Under the state’s caucus system, delegates are assigned by percentage of the vote.

Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley received less than 1 percent of the vote, according to the results released hours after he dropped out of the race.

[How Sanders caught fire and turned Iowa into a real race]

Like so many others, Givan Tichy was torn between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders at the start of caucus night. But after a long night of debating, first time caucus-goer Tichy decided to go with his heart and feel the "Bern." (Alice Li/The Washington Post)

The outcome from Monday’s caucuses was a relief for Clinton loyalists confronted in recent weeks with the wrenching possibility that Clinton’s second-chance candidacy, like her first, might falter out of the gate and never recover.

Read more>>>

He Xiaobo: latest victim of China's crackdown on labour activists

Assault on workers’ rights leaves activists in custody facing charges including disturbing social order and embezzlement

 He Xiaobo nd his wife Yang Min. He was detained on 3 December as part of a government crackdown on Chinese labour activists in the southern province of Guangdong. Photograph: Tom Phillips for the Guardian

 Yang Min holds up a photo album showing wedding photographs of her and her husband. Photograph: Tom Phillips for the Guardian

Tom Phillips in Foshan, Guangdong province-Tuesday 2 February 2016

Labour activist He Xiaobo had been expecting a knock at the door. At about 3pm on 3 December last year, it finally came.

As the 42-year-old father-of-two stepped out from the apartment block where he lives with his wife and baby daughter, he was surrounded by police officers. 

“He called me and said: ‘I’m being taken away,’” his wife, Yang Min, recalled during an interview at their eighth-floor flat overlooking this southern industrial city. “I didn’t know what to do.” 

Two months after his arrest – part of what campaigners describe as an unprecedented government assault on China’s labour movement – Yang has yet to set eyes on her husband.

At least two other leading workers’ rights activists, including one of the country’s best known, Zeng Feiyang, also remain in custody having been arrested during the same roundup in early December. They face charges including disturbing social order and embezzlement. 

Campaigners fear the crackdown – which comes amid rising labour unrest and follows similar government attacks on civil society activists, human rights lawyers, academics and journalists – represents the latest phase in a widening Communist party attack on its perceived enemies. 

Since Xi Jinping took power in late 2012, a severe political chill has descended on the country as Beijing turns back towards what one leading political scientist has dubbed “hard authoritarianism”.

Geoffry Crothall, a campaigner from the Hong Kong-based advocacy group ChinaLabour Bulletin, said he believed the wave of arrests against key labour organisers was “definitely part of a wider central party agenda to reassert control over all sectors of society and the economy”.

“So you are seeing attacks on lawyers who are considered outside of what the party would like them to do, and the same with labour activists,” Crothall added. “I doubt very much that is going to work but I suspect that is the rationale at the heart of all this.”

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Food imports rise as Modi struggles to revive rural India

Parubai Govind Pawar, a 55-year-old female worker cuts sugarcane in a field in Degaon village in Solapur district in Maharashtra, India, December 18, 2015. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Files

BY MAYANK BHARDWAJ- Tue Feb 2, 2016

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a late night meeting with food and farm officials last week to address falling agricultural output and rising prices, and traders warn the country will soon be a net buyer of some key commodities for the first time in years.

Back-to-back droughts, the lack of long-term investment in agriculture and increasing demands from a growing population are undermining the country's bid to be self-sufficient in food.

That is creating opportunities for foreign suppliers in generally weak commodity markets, but is a headache for Modi, who needs the farm sector to pick up in order to spur economic growth and keep his political ambitions on track.

"The top brass is dead serious about the farm sector that is so crucial to our overall economic growth and well-being," said a source who was present at the recent gathering of Modi, his agriculture and food ministers and other officials.

Modi sat through presentations and asked the ministers to ensure steady supplies and stable prices, urging them to find solutions, the source said. Modi did not suggest any immediate interventions of his own.

The long term impact on commodity markets could be significant.

Last month, India made its first purchases of corn in 16 years. It has also been increasing purchases of other products, such as lentils and oilmeals, as production falls short.

Wheat and sugar stocks, while sufficient in warehouses now, are depleting fast, leading some traders to predict the need for imports next year.

"There's a complete collapse of Indian agriculture, and that's because of the callous neglect by the government," said Devinder Sharma, an independent food and trade policy analyst.

"Given the state of agriculture, I'm not surprised to see India emerging as an importer of a number of food items. Maize is just the beginning."

 Read More

Prescription Opioids and Heroin - Our Kids are Dying!

Feb-01-2016 

The talk is not working. The workshops are not working. The government task forces are not working. Education is not working. If it were, the numbers would be declining not going through the roof. Our kids are dying!

(MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.) - In the 14 years I have been writing about the prescription opioid crisis which has evolved into a heroin epidemic, my frustration level has elevated.

In July 2007, I testified in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about OxyContin and the criminal conviction of Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin.

My testimony is shown here:

Testimony
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Evaluating the Propriety and Adequacy of the OxyContin
Criminal Settlement
July 31, 2007
Marianne Skolek
_________________________________________

My name is Marianne Skolek. I had a beautiful 29 year old daughter named Jill. She had the misfortune of being prescribed OxyContin in January 2002 and was killed on April 29, 2002. Jill left behind her son Brian who was 6 years old at the time of his mom’s death. Brian is with me in the Senate today.

Why did a $9 billion privately held pharmaceutical corporation take the life of my precious daughter? My work against Purdue Pharma for the past 5 years initially focused on J. David Haddox, dentist turned psychiatrist and Senior Medical Director of Purdue Pharma.

I also focused on Robin Hogen, former Public Relations spokesman for Purdue Pharma.

In 1996, the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the American Pain Society issued a set of guidelines for the use of opiates in the treatment of chronic pain.

These guidelines are referred to as a “consensus statement.” The statement leaning toward a more liberal use of opiates was adopted just as the marketing push for OxyContin began.

This consensus statement was produced by a task force, which was headed by J. David Haddox, former president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, who was senior medical advisor for Purdue Pharma – the maker of OxyContin.

Haddox was quoted as saying that “the point was to gather consensus. If you are going to do this, this is how it should be done.”

There was question as to whether it was ethical for Haddox to be associated with a pharmaceutical manufacturer to guide the formation of a document that would play a key role in promoting the use of products made by the company – Purdue Pharma.

When OxyContin was introduced on the market, it was intended for the treatment of cancer patients and they were losing the patent on MS Contin. At one point, in the greed and sheer evil of Purdue Pharma, they intended to market OxyContin to OB/GYN patients.

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