Tomorrow we wake up to a new year. In some part of the world it’s already 2008. We at countercurrents hope 2008 turns out to be one of hope peace and solidarity. We wish you all a happy new year.

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In Solidarity
Binu

A Solar Grand Plan
By Ken Zweibel, James Mason & Vasilis Fthenakis

www.countercurrents.org/mason311207.htm

By 2050 solar power could end U.S. dependence on foreign oil and slash greenhouse gas emissions

Bush’s Twilight Year Looks Grim
By Jim Lobe

www.countercurrents.org/lobe311207.htm

If the last days of 2007 are any indication, U.S. President George W. Bush’s last year in office is shaping up as grim and lonely

Iraqi Refugees Turn To Sex Trade In Syria
By Alistair Lyon

www.countercurrents.org/lyon311207.htm

The idea repels many of the 1.5 million Iraqis in Syria, but the struggle to make ends meet has forced some to share tiny apartments with other families in the slums of Damascus, put their children out to work or marry off teenaged daughters. Sometimes such early marriages are simply a cover for prostitution as young brides are swiftly trafficked, according to Hana Ibrahim, head of the Iraqi Women’s Will Association

The Face Of Fascism In A Global System Heading For Collapse
By Juan Santos

www.countercurrents.org/santos311207.htm

A Review of The Shock Doctrine By Naomi Klein

Ron And Ron: Two Of Capitalism’s Finest
By Jason Miller

www.countercurrents.org/miller311207.htm

Despite his apparent opposition to the powers that be, a vote for Ron Paul is still a vote for our continued enslavement by a system predicated on greed, selfishness, and the prosperity of the few at the expense of the many. In fact, unless by some miracle a viable candidate who opposes capitalism actually emerges, the act of voting in our bourgeois democracy is little more than a validation of our servitude

My Heart Bleeds For Pakistan
By Tariq Ali

www.countercurrents.org/ali311207.htm

Poor Pakistan. Poor People’s Party supporters. Both deserve better than this disgusting, medieval charade.How can Western-backed politicians be taken seriously if they treat their party as a fiefdom and their supporters as serfs, while their courtiers abroad mouth sycophantic niceties concerning the young prince and his future

Machiavellian Musharraf
By Ramzy Baroud

www.countercurrents.org/baroud311207.htm

The US administration and Congress are likely to clash over the best ways to control Pakistan, or — to put it mildly — to ensure Pakistan’s continuous cooperation in the US ‘war on terror’. However the clash manifests, the resulting US foreign policy posture is likely to affect changes – substantial or otherwise – in US policy toward Pakistan, resulting in further interference in the country’s internal affairs, deepening the discord and fuelling more violence. Indeed, it may endanger the future of genuine democracy in Pakistan for years to come

Afghanistan Does Not Exist: Viva Pakistan!
By Gaither Stewart

www.countercurrents.org/stewart311207.htm

I must be paranoid for I believe that Washington stands behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Since the truth is as hard to come by in Pakistan as it is in Washington, D.C. most observers can only hazard guesses as to what really happened there in recent days and weeks. So I too will take the liberty of expounding my version of events

What Next For Pakistan?
By Dr Shabir Choudhry

www.countercurrents.org/choudhry311207.htm

In view of some experts on South Asian politics and Pakistan, the country does not have a bright future. They think the process of disintegration was already on the way before the killing of Benazir Bhutto, and her killing has accelerated that process

Decoding Modi’s Victory And Secular Politics
By Manish Chand

www.countercurrents.org/chand311207.htm

Narendra Modi’s repeat landslide victory in Gujarat against the spectacular odds stacked against him – anti-incumbency, the odious hangover of the 2002 riots, an unforgiving Muslim minority, BJP spoilers and a hostile media – has exposed the fragility and speciousness of secular politics practised in the country by those who are quick to seize on the secularism mantra as the sole rallying point

Peasant Suicides: Why Kerala Is Different
By Prabhat Patnaik

www.countercurrents.org/patnaik311207.htm

One big difference between Kerala and the other states which perhaps explains why suicides have stopped in Kerala and not elsewhere, is that Kerala has set up a Debt Relief Commission, which at this very moment is engaged in a case-by-case scrutiny of the magnitude of debt and the requisite relief in the Wayanad district

Surrender Is Not An Option
By Jim Miles

www.countercurrents.org/miles311207.htm

Book Review: Surrender is Not an Option – Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad By John Bolton

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