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Caterpillar is holding its annual shareholder meeting in Chicago this coming June 10th. Help us bring thousands of letters directly to the Board of Directors. Sign a letter to CAT by June 9, and we will print it and hand-deliver it for you.

If you will be in Chicago on the 10th, the day of the shareholder meeting, join a street protest outside the shareholder meeting.

JVP will be at the shareholder meeting for the sixth consecutive year. Our resolution is sponsored by an interfaith coalition that includes the Sisters of Loretto, the Mercy Investment Program, and over 10 additional Catholic congregations. This year, our resolution calls for CAT to issue a comprehensive report on its foreign sales of weapons-related products. We were stunned to find out that these sales to Israel and every other foreign government comprise only a negligible 0.06% of CAT’s 2008 sales and revenues of $51.324 billion.

The company knows well how much suffering that small percentage really buys in Palestine, in terms of homes demolished, trees uprooted, and lives ruined.

The use of Caterpillar equipment to violate Palestinian human rights has been extensively documented in human rights reports (by Human Rights Watch, War on Want, Amnesty International and others) and has been conveyed to Caterpillar in different ways over the years: 6 annual shareholder resolutions, a letter from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a lawsuit on behalf of the family of activist Rachel Corrie and four Palestinian families whose homes were demolished by Caterpillar bulldozers, and countless street protests around the world.

Caterpillar has so far been deaf to these concerns. As a consequence, the Presbyterian Church USA and United Methodist Church have seriously considered divesting from Caterpillar. The Church of England and Hampshire College have already divested more than $3 million in Caterpillar stock. More recently, a group of 20 Israeli human rights organizations have petitioned the Norwegian government to divest its pension fund from a list of companies providing support for Israel’s military occupation, including Caterpillar.

Jewish Voice for Peace
(Submitted by reader)

A Catholic church in Malaysia which prays to Allah has prompted a court case over who can use the word.

Muslim leaders say Islam should be the only faith to use it, saying its use in other faiths could lead to confusion and conversions.
Robin Brant reports from Kuala Lumpur.

BBC

Bureaucrats kept only ‘trusted’ prime ministers in loop

Kyodo News
A secret accord between Tokyo and Washington on moving U.S. nuclear weapons through Japanese territory has been controlled by top Foreign Ministry bureaucrats who have told only a handful of “trusted” prime ministers and foreign ministers of its existence, four former top ministry officials have revealed.

All four were vice foreign ministers, the top bureaucratic post in the ministry. The limited number of prime ministers told of the secret accord included Ryutaro Hashimoto and Keizo Obuchi, the former officials said.

The pact gives Japan’s tacit approval that U.S. aircraft or naval vessels carrying nuclear weapons can transit Japan.

The revelation indicates that Foreign Ministry bureaucrats have controlled the top-secret matter, not elected officials.

The two allies concluded the secret agreement when the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was revised in 1960. Although the secret accord became publicly known through the declassification of U.S. diplomatic documents in the late 1990s, the Japanese government has consistently denied its existence.

The government has publicly adhered to the “three nonnuclear principles” of not possessing or developing nuclear weapons, or allowing them on Japanese territory.

It is the first time former top Foreign Ministry bureaucrats have admitted that some prime ministers and foreign ministers knew about the secret deal.

The revelation may shatter the government’s long-standing denial and require it to be held accountable to the public.
Japan Times

Kamila Hyat

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor

The violent opposition in Sindh to the presence of IDPs in the province is a shocking reminder of the divisions that have effectively fractured society.

The MQM and Sindhi nationalist parties have united forces to oppose the entry of the IDPs to the province. The essential humanitarian element of their situation has been lost amidst the blinding hate inspired by ethnic factors, which has during the past few months already triggered episodes of mayhem in Karachi. The inter-connections between different parts of a country which make it one nation rather than a collection of isolated portions of territory have been lost.

There are many aspects to this issue that now confront us head on. The ethnic issue has played a part in creating a situation where only 38 per cent of NWFP and the adjacent FATA areas, according to a map put out by the BBC, are under the control of the Pakistan government. The Taliban have in many places used ethnicity almost as much as religion to establish their grip. Others too confuse the issue with notions of a ‘tribal’ Pakhtun culture and ‘tradition’, ignoring the fact that for the most part the militants of Baitullah Mehsud or Maulana Fazlullah are opposed by tribal leaders who previously held almost undisputed sway in the same areas. Neither offers a solution to the problems of people who essentially seek a greater role in the making of decisions about their own destiny.

The extent to which ethnic issues determine what happens in the state is evidenced too by the matter of the Kalabagh Dam. The minister for water and power has now re-affirmed the project has been scrapped, and says that the decision in this respect is final. This announcement will create some dissent in Punjab. The whole matter has become one of provinces pulling in opposite direction; it has also become one of pride rather than good sense. Amidst this tussle, it has become impossible to look objectively at the dam and its possible developmental benefits. It is possible that it may have brought some. But the fact is that the ethnic friction it created was so damaging, pitching groups of people against each other, that the decision to abandon the reservoir is almost certainly a wise one. A dam that resulted in so many further divides within an already weakening federation could serve no useful purpose at all.

In the IDP situation too, the ethnic realities are visible everywhere, and not just in Sindh. In NWFP, hundreds of people have opened up homes to the nearly two million people displaced from the war-hit areas. Keys to unused homes or rooms that lie empty have been handed over to IDPs in many places. In Punjab, in Sindh and indeed in Balochistan, the misery of the displaced is just as visible. The TV images beam in just as they do in the Frontier. The appeals for help are heard everywhere. But the generosity of spirit seen in the Frontier is in many ways absent. Even though relief goods have been handed over, there has been opposition in parts of Punjab to the location of IDP camps close to their residences and the provincial government itself seems somewhat confused about the issue.

The News for more

By Peter B. Reiner

In the fall of 2005, the Dalai Lama gave the inaugural Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society lecture at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, DC. There were over 30,000 neuroscientists registered for the meeting, and it seemed as if most of them attended the talk. The Dalai Lama’s address was designed to highlight the areas of convergence between neuroscience and Buddhist thought about the mind, and to many in the audience he clearly achieved his objective. There was some controversy over his being invited to deliver this lecture insofar as he is both a head of state and a religious leader, and for that reason he largely stuck to his prepared text. But he strayed from the text at least once, reminding the audience that not only was he a Buddhist monk but also an enthusiastic proponent of modern technology.

Elaborating, he shared a confidence with the audience, telling the audience of scientists that meditating was hard work for him (even though he meditates for 4 hours every morning), and that if neuroscientists were able to find a way to put electrodes in his brain and provide him with the same outcome as he gets from meditating, he would be an enthusiastic volunteer. It turns out that a recent set of experiments, from researchers at MIT and Stanford, moves us a step closer to making his wish a reality.
Scientific American for more

2779 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5N 4C5, Canada
Tel: (604) 506 9259, Email: pnefacc@gmail.com

Progressive Nepali Forum in Americas (PNEFA) reiterates its previous stand that President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav’s move has not only violated the constitution but also seriously undermined the legitimate mandate of a democratically elected civilian government in Nepal. While reinstating the fired Chief of the Army Staff the President
has overstepped the boundary of the constitution as well as the norms and values of parliamentary democracy. He has acted in a regressive and reactionary way, a move
reminiscent of Mahendra Shah and Ganendra Shah’s assumption of executive power through dismissal of the elected government in 1960 and 2005 respectively. We also condemn all political parties including Nepali Congress and CPN(UML), which instigated the President to launch the constitutional coup.

Instead of correcting regressive move of the President and reinstating civilian supremacy, Madhav Kumar Nepal, a loser from two constituencies in last year’s Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, has been declared the Prime Minister of Nepal through unethical alliance of status-quoists and regressive forces with overt support and blessings of foreign powers, which have threatened the peace process and
installed two power centers with military supremacy. This has not only undermined and violated established democratic values and norms of civilian supremacy but also insulted Nepali people’s aspiration for change and a new Nepal with democratic republican federal setup. We firmly believe that incorporating losers of the CA elections in the new council of ministers headed by another loser is a mockery of democracy and unbearable insult to the sentiment of Nepali people and popular mandate.

We urge all sovereign Nepalis: intellectuals, civil society leaders, patriotic, democratic, progressive, and reasonable and rational minds of all walks of life to condemn this unfolding grotesque political drama regardless of personal and ideological affiliation and express solidarity to the ongoing movement for civilian supremacy, democracy, peace and rule of law in Nepal.

We urge members of the sovereign Constituent Assembly to nullify the
unconstitutional act of the President and safeguard national independence by saying NO to foreign powers who meddle in the internal affairs of Nepal.

We do not accept Madhav Kumar Nepal and others, who were rejected by the people, in the council of ministers as legitimate government of Nepal and ask them to step down to facilitate the process of democratic solution of current political impasse. We believe in the unflinching unity among patriotic and republican democrats to safeguard national unity and independence.

Abi Sharma
President – PNEFA

From SANSAD

Painting by Dai Dudu, Li Tiezi, and Zhang An, 2006, oil on canvas – Image mapping with titles and wikipedia links

Click here for original site and wiki links

By Mirza Ghalib (1797-1869)

[The following translation of Ghalib’s ghazal, along with the original ghazal in Roman script and comments are by Asghar Vasanwala. Ed.]

Dear friends,
To day I am presenting Ghalib’s famous Ghazal HazaroN KhwahisheN aisi….. along with its English translation and comments. I am also sending you its audio link. It is sung by Master Kalim.
For listening Master Kalim sing the Ghazal, please click here: http://lists.elistx.com/archives/blank/200805/mp35qcYAkAEPw.mp3
Enjoy. Please do write me how you liked it. It will give me encouragement.
Vas Salam,
Asghar Vasanwala
asgharf@att.net
May 30, 2009

Hazaaron khwahisheN aisi ke har KHwahish pe dum nikle
Bohot nikle mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle

I have thousands of desires, each worth dying for…
Many of my desires got realized…yet I feel it was too little…
(Ghalib always wants more and different. Word Satisfaction is not in his dictionary. When Ghalib conquers one star, he says there are many more adventures ahead. This theme runs throughout his divan, his poem book)
Darey kyoN mera qaatil? kya rahega us ki gardan par?
Voh khoon, jo chashm-e-tar se, umr bhar, yoon dam-ba-dam nikle

Why my killer (my beloved) is afraid? There is no legal blood charge on her neck
For the blood that continuously surged from my eyes during my life time
(It was not her fault that I wept blood whole life and died because of it; no murder charges be filed against her. My blood cannot stay on her neck.)
Nikalna KHuld se aadam ka sunte aaye haiN lekin
Bahot be-aabru hokar tere kooche se hum nikle
We hear story of Adam how he was thrown out from Heaven (with biggest disgrace)
With worst disgrace, I am thrown out from your street.
(Ghalib always considers that the street on which his beloved lives is far superior to heaven because it is so lively. Adam was thrown out of heaven for eating apple thus crossing the prohibited limit. Ghalib says I was thrown out of my heaven, my beloved’s street, with worst disgrace than that faced by Adam. Actually Ghalib is boasting that insult he suffered is worst than that suffered by Adam. In that sense he is superior to Adam)
Bharam khul jaaye zaalim! tere qamat ki darazi ka
Agar is tuara-e-pur pech-o-KHam ke, pech-o-KHam nikle
Oh sweet tyrant, your true tallness can be fathomed
Only if your hair locks, which you have tied up, get untied

(Then people will notice that your hair are longer than your height. Long hair is a beauty)
(I think, Ghalib considers hip and breast area of beloved like knots in a rope; her slim legs, her narrow waist, and her long neck are like a rope. If these knots are unknotted, she will look very tall. Meaning she is hiding her true height in these knots. Urdu poets love tall women. They call them Sarv qad or tall like a cypress. Traditional explanation of this verse is: Turra-e- pur pech-o-kham means her curled hair. If and when they will get uncurled, it will reveal that they are longer than her height. I think my explanation sounds better)
Magar likhvaaye koi usko KHat, to hum se likhvaaye
Hui subaha, aur ghar se, kaan par rakh kar qalam nikle

If someone wants to write her a letter, please hire me
Every morning I am out with a pen on my ear, (so you may identify me)
(I want to find out who are other lovers and what they want to write to her)
Hui is daur mein mansoob mujh se baada aasami
phir aaya voh zamana, jo jahaN meiN jam-e-jam nikle

In this age, drinking-championship is won by me
After the Iranian King Jmashed (who invented wine), it is my turn holding drinking record and famous wine cup “Jam-e-Jam”
(Ghalib is boasting about his super capacity of consuming wine)
Huyee jin se tavaqqo KHastagi ki daad paane ki
Voh hum se bhi zyada kushta-e-tegh-e-sitam nikle
From those whom I had anticipated empathy for my wretched condition
I sadly found, sword of disaster had struck them harder, then me
(It is fact of life that when we tell our problems and trouble to friends, to earn their sympathy, they tell us their own story; how badly they have suffered in life. They want us to sympathies them instead)

Mohobbat meiN nahin hai farq jine aur marne ka
Oosi ko dekh kar jitay haiN, jis kaafir pe dam nikle

In love, there is no difference between life and death
Her looks give me life, yet the same looks kill me
Zara kar zor seene par ki teer-e-pur-sitam nikle
Jo woh nikle to dil nikle, jo dil nikle to dam nikle
Put some pressure on my chest and pull out that cruel arrow (That your gaze implanted in my heart)
if the arrow comes out, my heart also will come out along with the arrow. If my heart comes out my breath will come out and I will have fortune to die at your hands. (Many Diwans do not include this verse)
KHuda ke vaaste parda na kaabe se uthaa vaiz
Kaheen aisa na ho yaaN bhi wohi kafir sanam nikle
Oh preacher! For god’s sake, don’t lift the curtain off Kaaba.
What if the same (kicked out) idols are still lurking underneath?

(In Abraham’s time there were no idols in Kaaba. However, in later period Arabs installed idols in Kaaba and started worshipping them. Prophet Mohammed like Abraham was a monotheist. He uninstalled those false Gods.
Kaaba, the cubical structure in Mecca, is covered with black curtains. Ghalib mischievously says there may still idols lurking behind these curtains; so please do not lift them and expose what is hidden. Remember, beloved is also called idol or Diva. For Sufi God is their beloved. The verse is beautiful and thought provoking. It may also mean that though many call themselves Muslims but under their bosom they still carry false Gods. So, don’t look under their bosoms, you’ll get shocked)
(Many Diwans do not include this verse)
KahaN maiKHane ka darwaza Ghalib, aur kahaN vaaiz
par itna jantay haiN, kal voh jaata tha ke hum nikle
Lowly door of sinful tavern and pious preacher are antithesis
Yet, I can vouch: yesterday while I was leaving the tavern, he was stepping in
Ghalib says that though his religious preacher stresses prohibition on alcohol, yesterday he found the same preacher visiting his (Ghalib’s) pub.