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

‘I see it as trafficking’: the brutal reality of life as a foreign student in the UK

Universities in Britain rely on overseas applicants paying full fees, which has given rise to some unscrupulous recruiters and left many hopefuls and their families deep in debt Samira Shackle hen Sam started looking into studying abroad, it didn’t take long for his phone to start ringing. At 24, he was living with his parents… Read More ‘I see it as trafficking’: the brutal reality of life as a foreign student in the UK

Dilip

We need to be honest about Iran – and how our rampant greed for oil is causing mayhem

Oil has empowered capitalism, and some of the world’s most exploitative regimes. Move away from it and we can solve some of the key issues we face George Monbiot Irealise this is a serious breach of etiquette. But could we perhaps abandon good manners and contextualise Donald Trump’s attack on Iran? The intense western interest in… Read More We need to be honest about Iran – and how our rampant greed for oil is causing mayhem

Dilip

Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers

Laura Paddison The vast data centers that power artificial intelligence guzzle huge amounts of energy but they also have another alarming impact, according to new research. They are creating “heat islands,” warming the land around them by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit, and making life hotter for more than 340 million people. There are still… Read More Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers

Dilip

The Tides have Turned

The US-Israel war on Iran marks the decline of the Modi era. These years have shown, at immense cost, what happens when a leader confuses personal brand-building with nation-building. Sushant Singh THE US-ISRAEL WAR ON Iran has exposed, across the board, the limits of state capacity and the hollowness of carefully crafted images. Amid this escalating… Read More The Tides have Turned

Dilip

The security council has allowed unchecked power and brutality. To protect peace, we must reform the UN

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Every violation of international law invites the next. From Afghanistan to Iran, and across Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Gaza and Venezuela, the line between what is permitted and what is prohibited has been steadily blurred by the complicit inaction of the UN security council. Wielding the veto as both a… Read More The security council has allowed unchecked power and brutality. To protect peace, we must reform the UN

Dilip

Wittgenstein’s Apocalypse

AI and the crisis of meaning Alexander Stern “It isn’t absurd,” the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote in 1947, “to believe that the age of science and technology is the beginning of the end for humanity.” The proposition is looking less absurd by the day: AI may eventually turn on us; industrialization has turned the planet… Read More Wittgenstein’s Apocalypse

Dilip

Grotesque priorities

Mukul Kesavan NB: The irredeemable racism of the Anglo-American establishment is on full display in the observations of the Chief Editor of The Economist. They remind me of the phrase “life unworthy of life” (Lebensunwertes Leben), the Nazi designation for those human beings who, according to Hitler and Co., had no right to live. Well… Read More Grotesque priorities

Dilip

‘The era of invincibility is over’: the week big tech was brought to heel

Ruling that Meta and YouTube deliberately designed addictive products marks possible watershed moment for social media Dan Milmo and Robert Booth The young woman at the heart of what has been called the tech industry’s “big tobacco” moment was on YouTube at six and Instagram by nine. More than a decade later, she says, she still can’t live without… Read More ‘The era of invincibility is over’: the week big tech was brought to heel

Dilip

Vietnam, Afghanistan and the 2026 Iran meat grinder: Why owning the sky is a death trap – and how this war will end an Empire

You can own the roof, but the guy in the basement has the shotgun, and the house is made of solid rock. by Mark A. Shryock – Copyright © Mark A. Shryock The history of modern warfare is defined by a persistent, expensive, and often fatal misunderstanding: the belief that controlling the sky is equivalent… Read More Vietnam, Afghanistan and the 2026 Iran meat grinder: Why owning the sky is a death trap – and how this war will end an Empire

Dilip