Author: Dilip

I'm a scholar, writer and teacher; and my blog is designed for intellectual exploration. It carries no advertisements and requires no cash subscription

How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution

With lagoons once choked by rubbish, pressure from the appalled community led the government to ban certain single-use products Prianka Srinivasan For generations, the people of Erakor village in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu would pass their time swimming in the local lagoon. Ken Andrew, a local chief, remembers diving in its depths when he was a… Read More How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution

Dilip

Why an ancient Greek tragedy has resonance in politics today — in India and beyond

In Aeschylus’ ‘Persians’, Xerxes though defeated, was not dethroned. He went on to rule for another decade or more. But the spirit of freedom and democracy set alight by that struggle lived on for more than a century Vijay Tankha What could the earliest extant Greek tragedy have to say about the recent elections? Nothing… Read More Why an ancient Greek tragedy has resonance in politics today — in India and beyond

Dilip

A Holocaust Scholar Called Israel’s Actions in Gaza ‘Genocide.’ It Cost Him a Job Offer

By  Maggie Hicks This month, Raz Segal learned that he’d been offered a job to run the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota’s flagship. It was an exciting career move for Segal, an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University. Five days later, Minnesota withdrew the offer. The… Read More A Holocaust Scholar Called Israel’s Actions in Gaza ‘Genocide.’ It Cost Him a Job Offer

Dilip

Dr Strangelove: how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Stanley Kubrick, 1963

NB: NATO, Russia, North Korea etc are all flexing nuclear muscles. The film referred to above was made sixty-one years ago, and is even more relevant, given the increase in the number of insane old men dreaming of mushroom clouds. And this is a link to the source of this article, the Cardiff University Philosophy… Read More Dr Strangelove: how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Stanley Kubrick, 1963

Dilip

Chastising little brother

Why did Japanese Confucians enthusiastically support Imperial Japan’s murderous conquest of China, the homeland of Confucius? Shaun O’Dwyer At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (1946-48), convened to try Japanese military and civilian leaders for war crimes, one defendant delivered a puzzling explanation for Japan’s 1937-45 war against China. The aim of the… Read More Chastising little brother

Dilip

Guest appearance

To return to the G7: what is it and why is India there? The G7 is a Cold War relic. It’s basically six rich, white, Atlanticist powers along with one rich, honorary-white, Pacific nation Mukul Kesavan The morning’s paper had a picture of the prime minister hugging the pope. Not all pictures of Narendra Modi… Read More Guest appearance

Dilip

Serial Criminals Rule Israel. That’s Where the Collapse Begins

Israel no longer has a genuine state comptroller, state prosecutor, Civil Service Commission or Justice Ministry department for investigating police misconduct. Netanyahu’s influence is everywhere (sounds familiar to Indians) GAZA casualties, live statistics Mordechai Gilat Here’s a question that no sane family in Israel can avoid asking: How did we get to the situation where… Read More Serial Criminals Rule Israel. That’s Where the Collapse Begins

Dilip