By B. R. Gowani

Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Ms. Rahman, defended her government’s decision to let the militants introduce Islamic laws in the Swat Valley citing it to be according to the public’s will: “It is in no way a sign of the state’s weakness. The public will of the population of the Swat region is at the centre of all efforts and it should be taken into account while debating the merits of this agreement.” “The president will approve the Nizam-e-Adal Regulation after the restoration of peace in the region.”

This is a lie. Further, yesterday the Pakistan government denied that the deal it signed was a concession to the taliban, which is another lie.

The above statements reek of sheer hypocrisy by Ms. Rahman. It is particularly disheartening as it comes from a western educated person who has also been the former editor of Herald magazine and has, in the past, shown concern on the issues of health, education, children, and women. She should instead have feigned illness to avoid the press, rather than put her government’s capitulation to the barbaric militants, as the “public’s will.”

Here are a few questions I would like her to answer:

Is the blowing up of hundreds of schools the public’s will?

Is the acid throwing and disfiguring of girls’ faces the public’s will?

Is the killing of girls the public’s will?

Is the burning down of video stores the public’s will?

Is the attacking of barber shops when they shave customer beards the public’s will?

Is the regular bombing of anything the militants can lay their hands on the public’s will?

Is the confining of women to the four walls of the house the public’s will?

Is the beheading of opponents the public’s will?

Is the order to parents to marry off their daughters to militants the public’s will?

Is barring women from going to the market the public’s will?

Is the banning of girls’ education the public’s will?

Is the public being turned into refugees the public’s will?

Is denying of medical treatment to women by male doctors the public’s will?

Is the order to married couples to carry nikahnama or marriage certificates when they go out the public’s will?

Is the murder of woman councilor Bakht Zeba who strongly favored girls education the public’s will?

There are many such questions for which Ms. Rahman can have no answer in the affirmative.

We all know that all of the above are not the public’s will. Besides, the will of the public is one thing, but what can not be ignored is that every individual has certain basic rights: to dress the way they want, to attend schools and colleges, to visit entertainment places, to have male or female friends, to live with anyone they want to, to pursue [or not] any religion they want, etc. They should be safe to live their daily life and be able to express their thoughts without fear of death, or worse.

Ms. Rahman, I ask you, if the militants were to order you to cover up and wear a burkha, would you then say that it’s the public’s will and do it?

If the militants were to order you to stay at home, would you then say that it is the public’s will and comply?

I cannot help but appreciate your bravery to work with the corrupt decadent macho feudal lusty lords (who usually have both hands in their pockets — one counting the illegal money, and other trying to soothe an itch). Nonetheless, the progressives would also want you to show more courage when handling issues that threaten the country’s integrity and it’s women.

B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com

The great grandson of Geronimo says he wants to know whether Skull and Bones secret society at Yale University has the remains of the famous Apache chief and shaman.
By Stephen Clark

FOXNews.com Tuesday, February 17, 2009

(Submitted by Michelle Cook)

Geronimo’s great grandson is filing a lawsuit seeking to reclaim the Chiricahua Apache leader’s remains.

It’s the stuff of legends: an elite secret society that includes what would become some of the most powerful men of the 20th century allegedly invading the grave of an Apache chief to steal his skull for fraternal rituals. It’s also the stuff of a new lawsuit filed Tuesday by descendents of that Apache chief.

On the 100th anniversary of the death of Geronimo, 20 of his blood relatives have asked the courts to force Yale University and the school’s secret organization, Skull and Bones, to release his remains for return to his native land and a proper burial.
The lawsuit also names President Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Army Secretary Pete Geren as defendants because they are responsible for maintaining Geronimo’s remains on a U.S. Army base in Oklahoma, the group said.

“I believe it’s a good cause because indigenous people over the century have been annihilated, removed from their homeland,” said Geronimo’s great grandson, Harlyn Geronimo, at a press conference in Washington, D.C.

Skull and Bones has never said whether any of Geronimo’s remains are in its possession. The descendants say they are investigating long-held claims that in 1918, members of Skull and Bones, including Prescott Bush, the father of George H.W Bush and grandfather of George W. Bush, invaded Geronimo’s grave at Ft. Sill and stole his skull, some bones and other items buried with him.

“In this lawsuit, we’re going to find out if the bones are there or not,” said the group’s lawyer, said the group’s lawyer, Ramsey Clark, who was attorney general in President Lyndon Johnson’s administration.
Gila Reinstein, a spokeswoman for Yale University, said she is unaware of the lawsuit, but Yale can add nothing to the mystery of the Indian chief’s whereabouts.

“To the best of my knowledge, Yale University has no relics or bones belonging to Geronimo,” she said, adding that she couldn’t speak on behalf of Skull and Bones because it is independent of the university.
Geronimo fought for decades against Mexican and American expansion into tribal lands. He and his small band of Apaches surrendered to U.S. troops in 1886 and were sent to Florida as prisoners of war before being transferred to Alabama.

Five years later, he was sent to Ft. Sill, where he lived the rest of his life as a free-range prisoner. Geronimo became a celebrity in the twilight of his life, appearing at fairs and selling souvenirs and photographs of himself. He died of pneumonia in 1909 at Ft. Sill and was buried at the Apache Indian Prisoner of War Cemetery on the military base.

Three members of the Skull and Bones, including Prescott Bush, served as Army volunteers at Fort Sill during World War I. They are accused of stealing the items which supposedly are used in initiation ceremonies. One alleged ritual includes kissing Geronimo’s skull.

Geronimo said he’s bringing the lawsuit now after contemplating it over the past decade because he has the time to do it after retiring from a tribal council in 2000. Clark added that at the 100th anniversary of the shaman’s death, “We really thought it would be a good time to say enough is enough.”
Geronimo said he has appealed to former President Bush for help in returning the remains.

“According to our traditions the remains of this sort, especially in this state when the grave was desecrated, need to be reburied with the proper rituals to return the dignity and let his spirits rest in peace.”
Asked why he didn’t appeal to Obama first, Geronimo said he thought Obama may be too busy to heed his request.

Watch and read more about the secret society Skull and Bones here.

A little-known fact unites Democratic frontrunner John Kerry and President Bush: they are both members of Yale’s secret society Skull and Bones. We speak with the author of “Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power” that reveals details about the secret society and its members.

The New Hampshire primary is just a few days away and Howard Dean’s status as the frontrunner has almost totally dissipated. The latest Boston Herald poll now shows that John Kerry holds a 10 point lead – a major surge for the Massachusetts Senator. Still reeling from his victory in Iowa, Kerry is starting to act like the front runner, shifting his focus from comparing himself to the other Democrats to putting his record up against President George W. Bush, saying he is the only candidate who can beat Bush and who represents a real difference from the current occupant of the White House.

But there is a fact about Kerry’s past that brings him closer to Bush than any of the other candidates. Both Bush and Kerry are members of a secretive society dating back to their respective days at Yale University – Skull and Bones. This fact has not been widely reported but when Kerry’s campaign spokesperson was asked about it, she said, “John Kerry has absolutely nothing to say on that subject. Sorry.”

AMY GOODMAN: You are listening to and watching Democracy Now, the War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman with Juan Gonzalez.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers around the country. The New Hampshire primary is just a few days away, and Howard Dean’s status as a frontrunner has almost totally dissipated. The latest “Boston Herald” poll now shows that John Kerry holds a 10-point lead, a major surge for the Massachusetts senator. Still reeling from his victory in Iowa, Kerry is starting to act like the frontrunner, shifting his focus from comparing himself to the other Democrats to putting his record up against President George Bush, saying he’s the only candidate who can beat Bush and who represents a real difference from the current occupant of the White House.

AMY GOODMAN: But there is a fact about Kerry’s past that brings him closer to Bush than any other candidate. Both Bush and Kerry are members of a secretive society dating back to their respective days at Yale University. It’s called “Skull and Bones.” This fact has not been widely reported, but when Kerry’s campaign spokesperson was asked about it, she said, quote, “John Kerry has absolutely nothing to say on that subject. Sorry.” In a moment, we’ll be joined by Alexandra Robbins, the “New York Times” best-selling author of, “Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League and the Hidden Paths of Power.” But first, we turn to an interview that I did with Kevin Phillips, the author of “American Dynasty, Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics Of Deceit in the House of Bush.” When I asked him about the significance of that Yale secret society, Skull and Bones.

KEVIN PHILLIPS: Well, I hate to overdo the secret societies because the average person has no idea of this. I went to Harvard Law School, and Harvard has these secret societies, too, but the ones at Yale, I think, if anything are more influential, and it’s sorta hard to cold turkey right in and say, my god, Skull and Bones, this is virtually like a diplomatic or international business piracy. You can almost see the pirate flag, but they all take it very seriously, because Admiral Harriman, instead of going to Harvard and getting involved in the “Porks,” so to speak, which was the big club up at Harvard, he went to Yale and did Skull and Bones. There was a crowd of people who were involved in operations like National CitiBank and Guaranteed Trust and just a whole lot of people who were major players in finance were Skull and Bones. And the crowd that was at W.S. Harriman was full of Skull and Bones people, and Prescott Bush was Skull and Bones. A lot of these people who were Skull and Bones wound up in the intelligence services, or they were assistant secretaries for aviation and the war department and things like this. It was a whole network.

AMY GOODMAN: But for people who don’t know what Skull and Bones is, what you are referring to.

KEVIN PHILLIPS: It’s a Yale secret society. Yale has other secret societies. Another one was called “Book and Snake.” So, they came up with these names. But these people took secrecy incredibly seriously. Books that have been written about Skull and Bones – they’ve got a vault at Yale. Nobody is supposed to be able to get in there. You can’t even tell your wife about Skull and Bones. Avril Harriman, his wife received a letter that was in hieroglyphics, and she didn’t know what to make of this and Avril Harriman said, “Well, that’s Skull and Bones, and I have to tell you about that, and he said, no, I can’t tell you about that.” If you want to know why they deal in secrecy, (a) you have Skull and Bones, and (b) so many of them were in the intelligence services and that whole side of Washington and New York.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about that, the beginning of intelligence, and how the Bush family fits into the beginning of the intelligence agencies?

KEVIN PHILLIPS: Well, this gets complicated because nobody quite agrees when the intelligence agencies started. But Yale was front and center, because the statue that’s in front of the C.I.A. is Nathan Hail. Nathan Hail’s statue that they copied that from appears in front of Connecticut Hall at Yale in New Haven. So, if you go back to the revolution you have Yale and the Secret Service.

AMY GOODMAN: It goes back to Andover where Bush went as well.

KEVIN PHILLIPS: Andover was really in the thick of this sort of stuff. They had a secret society sort of junior grade where you practiced to be at Skull and Bones at Yale when you were in Andover. It sounds like a joke today, but it wasn’t then. What happened was the crowd that was in with Prescott Bush and George H. Walker at W.A. Harriman, a number of them became prominent in the intelligence community and then when you get to the firm that was merged out of W.A. Harriman, which was Brown Brothers Harriman, one of the partners there was Robert A. Lovett, who was the son of one of the big cheeses in Harriman’s railroad operation, which is how they knew George H. — I mean, it all fits together. Robert A. Lovett was the man who came up with the blueprint for the C.I.A. after World War II, which was never acknowledged and only became public knowledge maybe 15, 20 years ago. So, he was a major player, and Prescott Bush, I have no doubt, was very close to the intelligence agencies. During World War II he was a director of two companies. One was Dresser Industries, which is now part of Halliburton, and the second is Vanadium Corporation of America. They were both involved in atomic energy projects. Prescott Bush was a friend of Alan Dulles who went on to be the C.I.A. Director, but he was also a lawyer during the 30’s for some of Brown Brothers Harriman international gamesmanship, so to speak. So, they were very tightly knit into all of this. And the real thing about the Bushes is how far back they go in this loose combination of investment banking, Wall Street law, the intelligence community, international business, the State Department, and the War Department.

AMY GOODMAN: That is Kevin Phillips. He is author of the new book, “American Dynasty, Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics Of Deceit In The House of Bush.” As we turn now to Alexandra Robbins, the “New York Times” best-selling author of the book, “Secrets of the Tomb — Skull and Bones, the Ivory League and the Hidden Paths Of Power,” who was formerly on the Washington, D.C. staff of the New Yorker Magazine. She is a 1998 graduate of Yale University and was the first reporter to publish George W. Bush’s transcript from Yale when he was a student there. We welcome you to Democracy Now!.

ALEXANDRA ROBBINS: Good Morning.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Juan.

ALEXANDRA ROBBINS: Thanks for having me.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Alexandra, I’d like to start out – in your book, you mention John Kerry several times. For those folks who might think this is something of the college days and in the 60’s when Kerry was at Yale, but you mentioned an experience that Jacob Weissberg, the editor of “Slate” magazine had about 20 years later in 1986. Can you talk a little bit about that.

ALEXANDRA ROBBINS: Sure. Skull and Bones is really much more than a college club. In fact the year that the members spend in it, their senior year at Yale (there are 15 members tapped for Skull and Bones membership each year) is really just the beginning. Skull and Bones is a powerful alumni network, perhaps the most elite network in the country and it really focuses on life after college. What Kerry did was he tried to recruit Jacob Weissberg from his senate office in Washington to become a member of Skull and Bones. And Weissberg ended up declining the invitation, but he was shocked that Kerry was a member of the society, which so clearly exhibited a history of misogyny, and he challenged Kerry on it. Kerry sort of blew him off. He said, “Oh, well, you know, you should look at my record – for women, defending battered women, et cetera,” and Weissberg said “I can’t be a part of this,” but he was shocked that Kerry would have his secretary call Weissberg into his office in the senate in order to try to make this recruiting possible.

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By Ram Puniyani

This Valentine day this year is also threatened by the threat of acts of intolerance, violence by the ‘Moral Police’ of Shiv Sena, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shri Ram Sene and ABVP etc. Violence including the attacks on shops selling Valentine and other mementoes has been reported too often. On the eve of the Valentine day and on the day itself one is watching in utter disgust the action of this moral police in vandalizing the events of the day. Valentine day has come to be synonymous with the exchange of messages of love all over the world. To keep company with ‘our’ own moral police similar groups in Saudi Arabia, and Dukhtarane millat types are also on the rampage. Many functions planned for this day have regularly been cancelled and many others just do not dare to plan any function in the light of experience of vandalism of previous years.
The ground on which these moral police operate holds no water. It is being said that such an open expression of love is ‘un-Indian’, this celebration is not in keeping with Indian culture, multinationals are promoting ‘nude revolution’ etc. Real reasons for this intolerant behavior have to be looked for in their overall agenda to curtail liberalism, pluralism and to constrain the democratic ethos of the country.
The circumstance under which this day came to become a memorable one, are very interesting and have a deep message. Valentine Day has an ancient legacy. It seems that the early Christian Church had at least two saints bearing this name. As per one story Roman emperor Claudius II forbade young men to marry in the year 200’s A.D., as he had strong military ambitions and he thought that single men made better soldiers (As ‘our own’ RSS believes that single men make better Pracharaks (Propagators) for Hindu Rashtra, and accordingly one can not be a high level RSS pracharak if one not a ‘bachelor boy’). A priest by the name Valentine protested and disobeyed the orders of the King by solemnizing the marriage of young couple’s. According to another legend, Valentine was an early Christian who was very affectionate to young children. He refused to worship Roman Gods and on that count was imprisoned. Children missed his affection and love and tossed the notes containing love messages across the prison bars. According to many stories he was executed on 14th February. This day in due course came to be celebrated in his memory, as a tribute to his courage in defying the inhuman orders of the ruling kings and people started sending greetings and messages of love to their loved ones’. The origin of the customs is slightly shrouded due to its being very ancient. Also these customs started taking local hue in different countries wherever this day began to be celebrated.
So why is the Hindutva brigade opposed to Valentine day, which is symbolic of love? Is it because the multinationals are involved in the card trade? We do remember the enthusiasm of Shiv Sena-BJP combine few years ago to dump the Enron in the Arabian sea as an electoral promise, but after coming to power they not only ratified the same but approved the further stage of the project as well! The NDA rule has seen the BJP leading the pack to bow to the multinationals, more than others. So aversion to multinational corporations is not the real reason. Is it because this day smacks of immorality and our ‘moral brigade’ cannot tolerate this exchange of symbols of love, which is obnoxious according to them? We do recall here that one of their ilk; B.L. Sharma had termed the rape of nuns as an act of Patriotism! So what are these scales of morality? As far the event being an un-Indian one, let’s just give a thought to the process of evolution of the customs, traditions and culture. With the world being reduced to a global village there is a percolation of different festivals and events across the globe. We have seen that even in Indian context in medieval times there was a thick intermingling of cultures and people of the society imbibed the one’s coming from different parts of the continent. People belonging to different religions overcame the boundaries to celebrate each other’s festivals and customs. The average people of the society, those who do not have vested interests celebrate diversity and enjoy it thoroughly. Muslims participating in Holi, Hindus participating in Tazia processions are some very few examples from the vast cultural interaction, which was the norm of the times, before the rise and institutionalization of communal politics.
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Mallika Sarabhai is an artist cum activist who fights for the rights of women and minorities, and is equally concerned about other social issues.

From Hari Sharma

Dear friends:
The Tamils in Sri Lanka are facing the greatest humanitarian crisis. A massive military assault by the Sri Lankan government has turned tens of thousnds of Tamils into refugees. There are plans to build barbed wire enclaves, which can only be called concentration camps. We in SANSAD have received telephone reports from relatives and family members of some of the Tamil people living in the Vancouver area, describing the situation in northern Sri Lanka as absolutely grim.

Last week, over three thousand Tamil people and their friends carried out a massive demonstration in Vancouver, under the banner of Canadian Tamil Congress. Similar protests have been held in some other cities of Canada. Is the Harper government listening?

Kindly read the material below, including very many links describing the latest situation.

hari sharma
for SANSAD

TASA Occasional Papers 1 and 2 (February 2009)
by S. P. Udayakumar
The two parts readable by clicking the pdf links

New configurations and constraints

by Jayadeva Uyangoda
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Sri Lanka’s war: To the bitter end (The Economist)

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Thousands Caught in Sri Lanka’s conflict – 12 Feb 09

See it here

Sri Lanka plans to house war refugees for 3 years

by Ravi Nessman
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Sri Lanka: ‘Govt Targets Media Under Civil War Cover’

by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta*
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Sri Lanka: Govt Ignores Supreme Court

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From The Times (Stringer/Reuters)

Tamil refugees wait in the town of Vishvamadu to be sent to government camps
By Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent
Sri Lanka was accused yesterday of planning concentration camps to hold 200,000 ethnic Tamil refugees from its northeastern conflict zone for up to three years – and seeking funding for the project from Britain.
The Sri Lankan Government says that it will open five “welfare villages” to house Tamils fleeing the 67 sq mile patch of jungle where the army has pinned down the Tamil Tiger rebels.
The ministry in charge says that the camps, in Vavuniya and Mannar districts, will have schools, banks, parks and vocational centres to help to rehabilitate up to 200,000 displaced Tamils after a 25-year civil war.
It also says that it will be compulsory for people fleeing the area to live in the camps until the army – which will guard them – has screened them, hunted down the Tigers and demined the area. The camps will be ringed with barbed wire fencing and, while those with relatives inside will be allowed to come and go after initial screening, young and/or single people will not be allowed to leave, it says.
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By Victoria Stern

If your mother told you raw oysters had turned your stomach a few years back, you might think twice about partaking in them again. But what if she was lying? And what if she told the same tale but replaced oysters with a fattening treat like ice cream? Evidence from two studies shows that generating false memories might be one way to diet.
Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom and at the University of Windsor in Canada each found that subjects who were told that a particular food had made them sick years earlier not only believed the made-up events but also stopped craving the food. Researchers already knew that generating false memories can alter a person’s beliefs, but these studies are the first to show that the practice can change behavior as well.
“Although it’s not ethical to create false memories in people, making an association between eating a fattening food and getting ill may be beneficial,” says Elke Geraerts, a psychologist from St. Andrews and lead author on one of the studies. “People may avoid those foods in the future.”
It may sound implausible that a mere suggestion could alter recollections or create a new (untrue) memory, but it’s not so far-fetched. “False memories are a well-established phenomenon. This is because all memories are re-creations, not recordings,” says Douglas Fields, a neurobiologist at the National Institutes of Health not involved in the studies.
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