Douglas McCauley: As the ocean industrial revolution gains pace the need for protection is urgent /Jeff Sparrow: Is battling back-to-back disasters distracting us from fighting the climate crisis?

The ocean is often seen as the last wild frontier: a vast and empty blue wilderness where waves, whales and albatrosses rule. This is no longer true. Unnoticed by many, a new industrial revolution is unfolding in our seas. The last several decades have seen exponential growth in new marine industries. This includes expansion of offshore oil… Read More Douglas McCauley: As the ocean industrial revolution gains pace the need for protection is urgent /Jeff Sparrow: Is battling back-to-back disasters distracting us from fighting the climate crisis?

16th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

Chris Hedges: Permanent war and the merchants of death

‘The moral hypocrisy of the United States is staggering…’ Putin played into the hands of the war industry. He gave the warmongers what they wanted. He fulfilled their wildest fantasies. There will be no impediments now on the march to Armageddon. Military budgets will soar. The oil will gush from the ground. The climate crisis… Read More Chris Hedges: Permanent war and the merchants of death

16th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

Julien Benda: Our age is the age of the intellectual organization of political hatreds

With a hitherto unknown consciousness (prodigiously fanned by authors) every nation now hugs itself and sets itself up against all other nations as superior in language, art, literature, philosophy, civilization, “culture.” Patriotism today is the assertion of one form of mind against other forms of mind…. it may be said that to-day capitalism, anti-semitism and… Read More Julien Benda: Our age is the age of the intellectual organization of political hatreds

16th March 202229th August 2024 Dilip

A False Dawn? A Review of The Dawn of Everything

As its title suggests, The Dawn of Everything is an ambitious book. The authors, David Graeber and David Wengrow, (one whom passed away while the book was in press) survey the whole past life of biologically modern humans in an effort to broaden the ambit of modern social thought. They aim to thereby open up the possibility… Read More A False Dawn? A Review of The Dawn of Everything

15th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

I was arrested at an anti-war protest in Moscow / Moscow police beat and torture women after anti-war protests / Interview with Stephen Kotkin: The Weakness of the Despot

Several protest movements announced anti-war rallies in Moscow on 6 March; the team of opposition figure Alexey Navalny announced a meeting on Manezhnaya Square, just opposite the Kremlin. A coalition of feminists and leftists called a rally at 3pm at another public space, the Square of Three Stations. In parallel, a separate group of protesters… Read More I was arrested at an anti-war protest in Moscow / Moscow police beat and torture women after anti-war protests / Interview with Stephen Kotkin: The Weakness of the Despot

14th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

The wreck of Endurance is a bridge to a bygone age, and a reminder of Antarctica’s uncertain future

Superbly clear images of the shipwreck Endurance, 3,000 metres below the ocean’s surface in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea, were this week broadcast around the world. Found by the Endurance 22 Expedition using a state-of-the-art autonomous underwater vehicle, we now have images almost as iconic as those taken of the stricken ship by Australian photographer and expedition… Read More The wreck of Endurance is a bridge to a bygone age, and a reminder of Antarctica’s uncertain future

13th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

Primo Levi (1919-1987) – Last Christmas of the War

Primo Levi – Last Christmas of the War In more ways than one, Monowitz, a part of Auschwitz, was not a typical camp. The barrier that separated us from the world – symbolized by the double barbedwire fence – was not hermetic, as elsewhere. Our work brought us into daily contact with people who… Read More Primo Levi (1919-1987) – Last Christmas of the War

12th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

Alfred McCoy – The Geopolitics of the Ukraine War: Putin and Xi Jinping in the Struggle over Eurasia

Just as the relentless grinding of the earth’s tectonic plates produces earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, so the endless superpower struggle for dominance over Eurasia is fraught with tensions and armed conflict. Beneath the visible outbreak of war in Ukraine and the U.S.-Chinese naval standoff in the South China Sea, there is now an underlying shift… Read More Alfred McCoy – The Geopolitics of the Ukraine War: Putin and Xi Jinping in the Struggle over Eurasia

11th March 202230th March 2023 Dilip

P. B. Mehta on the March 2022 assembly election results / Punjab: Cong, SAD, BJP register worst-ever performance

The results of the five assembly elections are a further consolidation of the momentous changes in Indian politics over the last decade. The results in UP are a spectacular win for the BJP, consolidating its power and ideological hegemony over Indian politics. It sends a plain and simple message: Politics, in the end, is a game… Read More P. B. Mehta on the March 2022 assembly election results / Punjab: Cong, SAD, BJP register worst-ever performance

11th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

What do anti-war protests in Russia mean for Putin? / Thousands arrested across Russia at anti-war protests

Security forces in Russia have detained over 4,000 anti-war protesters across the country. The figure is from an independent protest monitor. Police have arrested people in several Russian cities including Moscow and St. Petersburg. They warned that organizers and participants in demonstrations will face charges. Authorities have imposed restrictions on protests citing the COVID-19 pandemic.… Read More What do anti-war protests in Russia mean for Putin? / Thousands arrested across Russia at anti-war protests

10th March 202230th July 2022 Dilip

After the truth-shower

Philosophy, history, literature, current affairs, and other stuff. Posted by Dilip Simeon

Month: March 2022