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

Protests and strikes in Israel as plans for judicial overhaul move forward

Tens of thousands gather for rally and workers in several sectors strike over rightwing government’s proposals Israel’s new hard-right government has begun introducing sweeping legislation aimed at overhauling the judicial system, prompting the largest public demonstrations against the proposed measures to date. In a heated meeting in which several opposition politicians had to be forcibly… Read More Protests and strikes in Israel as plans for judicial overhaul move forward

Dilip

‘Notes on the Death of Culture’ by Mario Vargas Llosa

The Nobel laureate argues that we have reached a time in which there is no culture The intellectuals, the supine media, the political class have abandoned substance and discrimination and with treacherous enthusiasm adopted the idea of the image as truth. The liberal revolution of the 1960s, especially the events of 1968 in France, and… Read More ‘Notes on the Death of Culture’ by Mario Vargas Llosa

Dilip

Arun Kumar: Articles and discussions on the economy, budget, electoral bonds and Adani Affair

Links to some select recent articles, discussions and interviews on the above topics.  Long Article on unravelling real intention of the Budget in Mainstream Weekly http://mainstreamweekly.net/article13125.html  Panel discussion on Adani Affair `The Hindenburg Expose: Implications for the Country’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLy2RRHFQkM  Panel Discussion on the Union Budget organised by GSDS Discussion on important questions Adani should answer in program… Read More Arun Kumar: Articles and discussions on the economy, budget, electoral bonds and Adani Affair

Dilip

Seymour Hersh on Witnessing American War Crimes in Vietnam

In a wide-ranging discussion, the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist ponders why other journalists were hesitant to report on the notorious My Lai case. Seymour Hersh’s work has been published in numerous publications, including The New Yorker and The New York Times. He won a Pulitzer for his reporting on the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. His book… Read More Seymour Hersh on Witnessing American War Crimes in Vietnam

Dilip

Poverty Amid Plenty

(the) planet’s billionaires have collectively “earned” (and yes, that’s in quotation marks for obvious reasons) $2.7 billion every one of the last 730 days. Meanwhile, in 2021 alone, at least 115 million people fell into “extreme poverty,” with billions more hanging on by a thread. By 2030, Oxfam reports, the world could be facing the “largest setback in addressing global… Read More Poverty Amid Plenty

Dilip

Censoring debate in Parliament will not help the government

Bharat Bhushan If Adani was allegedly just another rogue businessman, a discussion in the Parliament and the institution of a transparent inquiry into allegations of market manipulation should have been the order of the day. However, the demand for an enquiry was stamped down in Parliament by the power of the presiding officers last week.… Read More Censoring debate in Parliament will not help the government

Dilip

Freudian trip: psychoanalyst’s London home recreated in Dublin for major film

Dalya Alberge The north London home of Sigmund Freud is being recreated in Dublin for a major feature film in which Sir Anthony Hopkins, the Oscar-winning actor, will star as the Austrian founder of psychoanalysis. It will include the study, complete with reconstructions of his famous psychoanalytic couch and other possessions. Freud had meticulously arranged… Read More Freudian trip: psychoanalyst’s London home recreated in Dublin for major film

Dilip

‘Sadness in the whole forest’: family of Cop City activist killed by US police seeks answers

Manuel Paez Terán was protesting a planned Atlanta police training center when officers repeatedly shot and killed him. The activist, who went by the name Tortuguita, was one of dozens trying to protect the South River Forest from a $90m, 85-acre police and fire department training center planned for the site. The project is known… Read More ‘Sadness in the whole forest’: family of Cop City activist killed by US police seeks answers

Dilip

How scientists are kept fed and happy in one of the most remote places on Earth

No place on Earth is colder than East Antarctica. Due to its higher elevation, not even West Antarctica can touch its hostile temperatures. Princess Elisabeth, a polar research station in the Queen Maud Land region, faces wind speeds of up to 155 mph (249 kph) and temperatures as low as -58°F (-50°C). A flair for… Read More How scientists are kept fed and happy in one of the most remote places on Earth

Dilip

Christopher Bollas: The fascist state of mind (1992)

the core element in the Fascist state of mind (in the individual or the group) is the presence of an ideology that maintains its certainty through the operation of specific mental mechanisms aimed at eliminating all opposition. But the presence of ideology (political, theological, or psychological) is hardly unusual; indeed it is quite ordinary. The… Read More Christopher Bollas: The fascist state of mind (1992)

Dilip