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

RAMONA WADI: Why does the US turn a blind eye to Israel’s expansion of Squatter-Settlements on Palestinian Land?

(Middle East Monitor) – Israeli media have been pointing out that the Biden administration in Washington is not too bothered about the occupation state’s illegal settlement expansion. There is little reason to doubt the veracity of the claim. So far, US President Joe Biden has managed to maintain a fine balance between his agenda in favour of… Read More RAMONA WADI: Why does the US turn a blind eye to Israel’s expansion of Squatter-Settlements on Palestinian Land?

Dilip

CHRIS HEDGES – The execution of Julian Assange: He exposed the crimes of empire; and that can't be tolerated

Assange committed empire’s greatest sin. He exposed it as a criminal enterprise. He documented its lies, callous disregard for human life, rampant corruption and innumerable war crimes. Republican or Democrat. Conservative or Labour. Trump or Biden. It does not matter. The goons who oversee the empire sing from the same Satanic songbook… The execution of… Read More CHRIS HEDGES – The execution of Julian Assange: He exposed the crimes of empire; and that can't be tolerated

Dilip

Memorial and the liberating power of history. By Timothy Snyder

NB: Attempts to rewrite history with the use of political power are taking place in India as well. Ironically, the infamous habit has been connected to communist regimes, but is quite clearly popular with anti-communist ones as well. As George Orwell remarked in his dystopian novel 1984: “He who controls the past controls the future;… Read More Memorial and the liberating power of history. By Timothy Snyder

Dilip

Ralph Nader: Critical Exposés Everywhere as the Corporate State Worsens

Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his 1938 message to Congress warned that when private power becomes stronger than the democratic state itself, we have Fascism. There are many ways to witness the intensifying domination toward a corporate state. One way is to compare exposé books in the 1960s and the present. Within a span of five years, there were three… Read More Ralph Nader: Critical Exposés Everywhere as the Corporate State Worsens

Dilip

Mainstream, Dec 11, 2021

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream 11 Dec 2021 Hail To The Glories Of Corruption  Farmers’ victory helps democracy survive  Remember Babri Mosque Demolition As Violation of Law  Kashmir Youth – an Aspirational & Anxious Social category  Uttar Pradesh: The Problem of Unemployment  For Opposition Unity TMC Should Avoid Confrontation with Congress  SAARC: Regionalism and the… Read More Mainstream, Dec 11, 2021

Dilip

WILLIAM J. ASTORE: Pentagon's funding grows to $778 billion after losing the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

Where are you going to get the money? That question haunts congressional proposals to help the poor, the unhoused, and those struggling to pay the mortgage or rent or medical bills, among so many other critical domestic matters. And yet — big surprise! — there’s always plenty of money for the Pentagon. In fiscal year 2022, in… Read More WILLIAM J. ASTORE: Pentagon's funding grows to $778 billion after losing the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars

Dilip

Adam Ramsay – Culture wars: identity politics and the fight against surveillance capitalism

Neoliberalism was the form of capitalism that came after colonialism, driving markets back into the public sectors of the former colonial powers, allowing capital to monetise and extract wealth from their soft underbellies. Surveillance capitalism, led by the data giants, is taking its place. As academic and writer Shoshana Zuboff has argued, under surveillance capitalism,… Read More Adam Ramsay – Culture wars: identity politics and the fight against surveillance capitalism

Dilip

British universities slammed for taking £90m from oil companies in four years

British universities have accepted almost £90m in funding from major oil companies since 2017, openDemocracy can reveal. Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London have been criticised for taking the most, with one MP branding the relationship between oil giants and universities “scandalous.” Imperial College London has accepted more than £54m, including £39m from Shell –… Read More British universities slammed for taking £90m from oil companies in four years

Dilip

Modern life is giving us brain fatigue. By Mary E. Williams

Reading Dr. Mark Rego’s provocative, intense Frontal Fatigue: The Impact of Modern Life and Technology on Mental Illness, I found myself thinking of David Foster Wallace’s “This Is Water.”  In it, the late author observes the need to be aware of “what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us.”  Today, we live in a culture that… Read More Modern life is giving us brain fatigue. By Mary E. Williams

Dilip