CC News Letter 24 Feb The Venezuelan “Petro” – Towards A New World Reserve Currency?


Dear Friend,

Venezuela has come out with a cryptocurrency that can challenge the global system. Another one is to follow soon. Peter Koenig writes about this earth shattering development, " As this article goes to print, Globovision TV quotes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announcing the launch of a new cryptocurrency, the “Petro Oro”. It will be backed by precious metals. The launch of the new cryptomoney is scheduled for the next week. No details of the new offering are available at this point.“I do not want to rush things, but we have a surprise regarding the petro and the gold, which will have the same dimension as it has been related to oil, but it is the theme of next week,” the President says. The first public offering, the ‘Pre-sale’ of 38.4 million of the oil-backed “Petro” on 20 February, has raised US$ 735 million equivalent which is considered a great success."


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The Venezuelan “Petro” – Towards A New World Reserve Currency?
by Peter Koenig 


As this article goes to print, Globovision TV quotes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announcing the launch of a new cryptocurrency, the “Petro Oro”. It will be backed by precious metals. The launch of the new cryptomoney is scheduled for the next week. No details of the new offering are available at this point.
“I do not want to rush things, but we have a surprise regarding the petro and the gold, which will have the same dimension as it has been related to oil, but it is the theme of next week,” the President says. The first public offering, the ‘Pre-sale’ of 38.4 million of the oil-backed “Petro” on 20 February, has raised US$ 735 million equivalent which is considered a great success.



For Madhu: In Memory
by Pratap Antony 


Madhu – with no last name
Adivasi, Tribal person
Indigenous person
A first person
A person first
A personality
Naive, innocent and artless
Open, guileless
Preserver, protector, conserver
Repository of ancient knowledge
Dead



Drones and Jets: The “Brazenness” Belongs to Israel
by Brenda Heard 


“Iran brazenly violated Israel’s sovereignty,” stated Netanyahu on 10 February. “They dispatched an Iranian drone from Syrian territory into Israel.” In response to this alleged reconnaissance drone, which the Israeli military characterized as a “serious Iranian attack on Israeli territory,” Israel promptly bombed twelve Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria.




Article 35-A: Remnant of State-autonomy Rankling in the Heart of ultra-Hindu Nationalists
by M J Aslam 

Under Article 35-A, which begins with a non obstante clause all the existing law, which are in force in this state are protected and any enactment made by the state legislature relating to permanent residents, their status, rights and privileges or relating to their employment, acquisition of immovable property, settlement in the state or grant of scholarships, are also protected. That being the position under the constitution itself, the submissions challenging their validity have to be rejected. This conclusion is further re-enforced by Article 367 of the constitution of India in its application to this State.  





Uphold the Language of Dignity, Give Up Benevolence: TISS Hyderabad Campus as a Site of Higher Education and the Ongoing Students’ Protest
by K P Rajesh 


This is a fight against the unjust and discriminatory policy of the authority which includes UGC, MHRD, state administration and TISS administration. In my view, this cannot be reduced to a mere fight against fund cut; rather, this is a protest to deepen the democratic character of a social science institution by ensuring access to students from all sections of the society. If that is being true, I think, we as faculties cannot leave the entire responsibility and burden on students to keep on fighting for justice. It is imperative, by admitting the fact that there is an overwhelming support and solidarity from a significant number of faculties who are working in different campuses of TISS, to go beyond solidarity and needs to be aligned with the students to protect and strengthen the democratic character of a nationally known centre of higher education in social science.




“All I Wish is for Palestine to be Free” — Freedom Fighter Ahed Tamimi
by Priti Gulati Cox 


As of 2017, there are 350 children being held in Israel’s prisons. Each of them, as well as each of those who preceded them, is a freedom fighter like Ahed. They all deserve their own embroidered posters and media attention.




Making Ends Meet on Gaza’s streets
by Amjad Ayman Yaghi


Many children seem to work as street vendors. Ahmad al-Banna, 10, was selling flags from his cart during a January demonstration against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He buys the flags – some carrying the colors of the various Palestinian factions as well as the national flag – wholesale. During the Jerusalem demonstration he sold 40, he said, earning some $15.





Why BDS Movement Deserves A Nobel prize
by Ryan Rodrick Beiler  


When Norwegian lawmaker Bjørnar Moxnes nominated the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, he called it an effort towards “stopping an ascendent, racist and right-wing politics sweeping too much of our world.”




Shanker Shambhu Qawwal, The Epitome of Indian Plurality
by Syed Ali Mujtaba 


Well I am talking about “Shanker Shambhu Qawwal,” the two real brothers and the only Hindu “Qawwal” in the entire subcontinent. These two Hindu singers with their Sufi songs have mesmerized an entire generation were seen as the torch bearers of peace and brotherhood in the country.




When A Woman Laughs
by Nalini Priyadarshni 


There are hundreds of ways to silence a woman
stare her down if she happens to laugh out loud
in public space especially in the presence of men
where she should be whispering at side lines
make your dismay quite apparent
if it fails to mortify her




Interfaith Marriages And Human Progress
by Thumakunta Vasantha 


One of the means of measuring human progress is the declining influence of social identities in building human relationships. A society can only reach higher levels of progress only if it is able to break itself from the identities defined in terms of caste, religion, race, nationality, ethnicity, region etc. Unfortunately, in the 21st century for all the technological progress that has been achieved, yet socially regressive tendencies tend to define formation of social and human relationships.




Globalization’s Deadly Footprint
by Alex Jensen 


Of course Dr. Landrigan is right that reducing pollution doesn’t ‘stifle the economy’ – quite the contrary, if ‘the economy’ is understood in a much more holistic sense than mere GDP. But, as has been pointed out previously on the Economics of Happiness Blog , we also shouldn’t equate a healthy economy with a growing economy. The converse is more often the case. To reduce global pollution deaths, we not only need robust pollution control regulations, we must reduce corporate power, globalization, and the scale of the economy as well.




Arming Educators: Trump, Gun Violence And Schools
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 


On Friday, the President suggested that not all pedagogues would be anointed with the task, merely those “that have great ability with weaponry, with guns, those are the only people I’m talking about.  They’ll protect the students.”  An environment of true, trigger conscious mayhem.




Cornucopian Renewable-Energy Claims Leave Poor Nations in the Dark
by Stan Cox 


Stanford professor Mark Jacobson and his colleagues have written yet another paper purporting to show that 100 percent of energy demand can be fulfilled by wind, solar, and hydroelectric generation. This latest study, which comes in the form of a manuscript accepted but not yet published by the journal Renewable Energy, seeks to show how that goal can be met in 139 nations.




Devious Ways the Predatory US Food Industry Has Us Paying More for Less
by Dr Nayvin Gordon 


When shopping at the supermarket, do you believe that your dollars don’t go as far as they used to? Guess what?-You are absolutely right! As we cruise through the supermarket here are some of the ways you may pay more for less.



If We Have To Survive
by K P Sasi 


The children will sleep tomorrow
Without the waves of the dead
Women will laugh tomorrow
Without bowing near the graves
If we hold our hands
For a new tomorrow
If we have to survive
To host the new flag of life.








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