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

‘Most of Mainstream Media a Disgrace to Democracy’: Ravish Kumar at Peabody Ceremony

‘When a journalist becomes spreader of hate and lies, instigator of mob lynching, a cheerleader for the government, [they] become an instrument to kill democracy.’ Ravish and Vinay speak at award ceremony NB: Congratulations to both of you, and salaams to Ravish for his courage and commitment. DS Most of what is Indian mainstream media… Read More ‘Most of Mainstream Media a Disgrace to Democracy’: Ravish Kumar at Peabody Ceremony

Dilip

Gruesome hypocrisy of US foreign policy being exposed in Gaza, Ukraine

By NORMAN SOLOMON When someone shows you who they are,” Maya Angelou said, “believe them the first time.” That should apply to foreign-policy elites who show you who they are, time after time. Officials running the Pentagon and State Department have been in overdrive for more than 250 days in support of Israel’s ongoing slaughter of… Read More Gruesome hypocrisy of US foreign policy being exposed in Gaza, Ukraine

Dilip

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