Peace and Justice Post

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the cosmologist shares his thoughts on death, M-theory, human purpose and our chance existence

Ian Sample, science corresponden, The Guardian, May 17, 2011

Stephen Hawking dismisses belief in God in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. Photograph: Solar & Heliospheric Observatory/Discovery Channel

A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a “fairy story” for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.

In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain’s most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.

Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today.

The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future.

“I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first,” he said.

“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark,” he added.

M&C News, May 16, 2011,

by Ron Ridenour , Dissident Voice, May 16th, 2011

Forty-seven governments on the Untied Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) will discuss and decide, beginning at its May 30th session, what to do about an unusually truthful report in the world of international politics.

The “Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka” was delivered to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on March 31 concerning: 1) alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the last phases of the 26-year old civil war, September 2008 to May 19, 2009; 2) consequences for approximately 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and, by extension, for 2.7 million Sri Lankan Tamils, 13% of the 21 million population.

After receiving the report, which calls for investigations into these allegations, Ban Ki-moon stated that he did not have the power alone but one of three UN bodies had to request such action, either the General Assembly or the Security Council or the Human Rights Council.

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AHRC, May 17, 2011

Hunger Alert General: AHRC-HAG-001-2011

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PAKISTAN: Military threatens food security of farmers by illegal land grabbing

ISSUES: Food security; peasants; right to land; false charges; militarism
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that the food security of peasants in the Punjab has been threatened by illegal land grabbing by the military for decades. The peasants have been cultivating the land from their forefathers who were asked to settle and cultivate the land in 1913. However, the military-run corporations and family members of retired military officers have gradually occupied the land without illegally. The peasants are struggling for their right to land and facing serious human rights violations including murder and false charges being laid against them whereas the Punjab government has consistently failed to protect their rights. In addition, many villagers are forced to pay money to the military under threat. It is also alleged that the military corporations have leased the land to the UAE countries. The Punjab government in associated with the military allotted some land to the villages of Okara area as a compromise instead of taking the total land back to the peasants. In 2010, the government pledged to provide the funding for housing construction as well as a school and hospital in the villages which is yet substantiated.

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Bill Van Auken, wsws.org, May 17, 2011

The Obama administration’s reaction to Israel’s massacre Sunday of unarmed Palestinian protesters on its borders underscores the hypocrisy of those ascribing “humanitarian” motives to Washington’s predatory policy in the region.

Israeli troops opened fire with live ammunition and, in one case, tank fire on Palestinians who demonstrated on Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. Tens of thousands joined in the protests, which were called to commemorate the 63^rd anniversary of the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe), the term used by the Palestinians for Israel’s declaration of independence and the wholesale ethnic cleansing that drove three-quarters of a million Palestinians from their homes in 1948.

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Testimonies posted on YouTube by campaign group describe routine harassment and humiliation of Palestinian civilians

Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem, The Guardian, May 16, 2011

Campaign group Breaking the Silence has met with a hostile response from Israel, especially after it published testimony by soldiers who took part in the war on Gaza in 2008-09. Photograph: Ali Ali/EPA

Transgressions by the Israeli army in the occupied Palestinian territories will be disclosed by a group of former soldiers in an internet campaign aimed at raising public awareness of military violations.

Video testimonies by around two dozen ex-soldiers – some of whom are identifying themselves for the first time – will be posted on YouTube. The campaign by Breaking the Silence, an organisation of former soldiers committed to speaking out on military practices, launches with English subtitles on Monday.

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Campaigners condemn decision not to include ‘murky’ issue of detainee transfers in investigation as ‘only doing half the job’

By Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor, The Independent, May 15, 2011

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Griffin: Said UK handed captives to US, knowing they would be mistreated

An inquiry into Britain’s involvement in torture during the “war on terror” will not investigate whether UK forces handed over suspects to be transported to other countries for interrogation by the Americans – despite David Cameron’s assurance that it would probe all aspects of the controversy.

The head of the Detainee Inquiry ordered by Mr Cameron has confirmed that he will not consider the issue of detainees transferred between forces fighting in Iraq and elsewhere, which has been identified by many critics as one of the murkiest elements of the “extraordinary rendition” saga.

Campaigners last night condemned the decision, which contradicts assurances made by the Prime Minister when he set up the inquiry last year.

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For the second time this year, Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince has been tapped as the leader of a secret military being formed in the desert. In January he was reportedly at the head of a “anti-piracy milita” in northern Somalia. Now, he is in the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE confirmed Prince’s hiring, saying he was providing “operational, planning and training support” for them, but offering no additional details. Documents leaked regarding the deal with Prince’s new company, Reflex Responses, confirm that he is building up a new mercenary army for the emirates.

The mercenary force is largely composed of Colombians and reportedly also features a number of South African mercs who were involved in the Executive Outcomes corporate army of the 1990′s.

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AIPAC has falsely advertised Israel as a democratic state.

By Omar Barghouti, The Palestine Chronicle, May

The Arab democratic spring, striving to end authoritarian rule and establish freedoms and social justice, has not been welcome by all. Israel and its main lobby in the U.S., the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), for instance, appear to have been caught off guard and visibly disturbed by the seemingly irreversible transformations that these uprisings promise to bring about in the Arab world and, to an extent, the world at large.

Having stood on the wrong side of history during the Tunisian and then the Egyptian revolutions, supporting the despots and authoritarian regimes against the people, Israel has a lot to lose from the democratic winds of change in the region. When Hosni Mubarak was about to be overthrown by the people’s revolution in Egypt Israel launched a diplomatic campaign to convince key Western capitals to support him lest stability is lost and Israel’s other tyrannical friends in the region feel abandoned.

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Gaza TV,  May 15,  2011.

Today can only be described as “Bloody Sunday” following the deaths of 21 people, and over 200 injured by Israeli forces. 10 people are reported dead in Lebanon, 8 in Syria, 2 in Gaza, and 1 in the occupied West Bank.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians marked the Nakba anniversary by marching to the borders with Israel in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. They were demanding their right of return to the homes and lands they were force to flee in 1948.

In Gaza, thousands of people marched to the Erez border crossing where they were met by a barage of bullets and shells fired from tanks. A 17 year old was killed, and 60 were injured. Most of those injured were children, with wounds to their legs. Another man was killed later in the eastern area of Gaza. Currently, F16′s, Apache Helicopters and unmaned drones are roaming the skies above the besieged area.

In Lebanon, thousands marched to Maroun el Rass, the border with Israel. Demonstrators were fired upon by Israeli troops leaving 10 dead and 70 injured, according to local reports. Thousands protested for hours before dispersing peacefully.

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