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

Across the globe, compassion for migrants has given way to cruel, performative politics

Kenan Malik On Wednesday, the UK supreme court will give its verdict on the Rwanda deportation scheme. The decision will clearly have a major impact on those who face deportation. It will have an impact, too, on the political debate about immigration, with government supporters either hailing a victory or bemoaning the treachery of the liberal elite.… Read More Across the globe, compassion for migrants has given way to cruel, performative politics

Dilip

Obsession, jealousies and Joséphine: has Ridley Scott captured the real Napoleon?

Andrew Hussey Napoleon Bonaparte is probably the most famous Frenchman of all time and is, according to academic sources, second only to Jesus as the most filmed figure in cinema history. Napoleon is a complex subject whose aura, monstrosity and genius is a perfect fit for great cinema and who is therefore an irresistible challenge… Read More Obsession, jealousies and Joséphine: has Ridley Scott captured the real Napoleon?

Dilip

‘We’re Rolling Out Nakba 2023,’ Israeli Minister on Northern Gaza Strip Evacuation

Michael Hauser TovIsraeli security cabinet member and Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter (Likud) was asked in a news interview on Saturday whether the images of northern Gaza Strip residents evacuating south on the IDF’s orders are comparable to images of the Nakba. He replied: “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba. From an operational point… Read More ‘We’re Rolling Out Nakba 2023,’ Israeli Minister on Northern Gaza Strip Evacuation

Dilip

Whither philosophy?

The discipline today finds itself precariously balanced between incomprehensible specialisation and cheap self-help Siobhan Lyons As long as there has been such a subject as philosophy, there have been people who hated and despised it,’ reads the opening line of Bernard Williams’s article ‘On Hating and Despising Philosophy’ (1996). Almost 30 years later, philosophy is… Read More Whither philosophy?

Dilip

Fossil fuel companies continue down dangerous path

By DENNIS MEREDITH Even as climate advocates call for eliminating fossil fuels, companies continue to launch major production plans. Earlier this year, for example, President Joe Biden’s administration approved the $8 billion Willow project on Alaska’s North Slope, which is expected to yield some 600 million barrels of oil over three decades. And last month, ExxonMobil announced a nearly $60 billion… Read More Fossil fuel companies continue down dangerous path

Dilip

Dennis Kucinich: The Nothingness of a War Consciousness

By Dennis Kucinich / Substack The leaders of the world must assert common humanity and create a new path, a new map which is fair to all, and establish a new, peaceful coexistence which recognizes the inner equality of all Dennis Kucinich Commentary on November 5, 2023 Palestine, Israel, and the US war machine: Dennis Kucinich… Read More Dennis Kucinich: The Nothingness of a War Consciousness

Dilip

‘I sent them a good boy and they made him a murderer’

Lieutenant accused of murdering 109 civilians: By SEYMOUR HERSH The Pulitzer prize winning My Lai story, as readers experienced it when it was first published in 1969 In the fall of 1969, a friend with a source in the military called a part-time political columnist for The Village Voice with a tip: a U.S. soldier was being… Read More ‘I sent them a good boy and they made him a murderer’

Dilip

Is it too much to ask people to view Palestinians as humans? Apparently so

But, Arwa, what about Hamas? You might be saying. Aren’t you going to condemn Hamas? Of course I will absolutely condemn Hamas massacring innocent Israeli civilians on 7 October and taking hostages. And let’s be very clear here: while nothing Hamas did on 7 October can be condoned, their actions did not take place in a vacuum. This… Read More Is it too much to ask people to view Palestinians as humans? Apparently so

Dilip

Dogs of war / New acronym in Gaza: WCNSF – Wounded Child No Surviving Family

The truth never dies but is made to live as a beggar: Yiddish proverb NB: For the terminally racist Western establishment, no amount of mass suffering of innocents is going to be enough. It is they, led by the USA who are enabling this enormity. Here’s an American expert in urban warfare, saying Israel is… Read More Dogs of war / New acronym in Gaza: WCNSF – Wounded Child No Surviving Family

Dilip