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

BRIAN KAREM – Dumbass nation: Our biggest national security problem is America's "vast and militant ignorance" / ExxonMobil's campaign to fund climate science denial

The United States is a nation of militantly ignorant people, arrogant in their beliefs, unable to change their minds and unwilling to try. We lack education. And the lack of education in this country is such a problem that national security adviser Jake Sullivan described it this week as a critical issue for our national… Read More BRIAN KAREM – Dumbass nation: Our biggest national security problem is America's "vast and militant ignorance" / ExxonMobil's campaign to fund climate science denial

Dilip

Bhima Koregaon: Kin of jailed activists write to authorities to not discontinue telephone calls / How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates

NB: After willfully neglecting Fr Stan Swamy‘s bail pleas and subjecting him to unusual punishment without trial, our criminal justice system literally presided over his death in custody. He was 84 years old, weak and ailing; and had suffered enormously in jail. After he died, spokesmen for the government repeated the allegations against him as… Read More Bhima Koregaon: Kin of jailed activists write to authorities to not discontinue telephone calls / How the ‘anda cell’ is used to discipline prison inmates

Dilip

Climate crisis: economists ‘grossly undervalue young lives’

Many economic assessments of the climate crisis “grossly undervalue the lives of young people and future generations”, Prof Nicholas Stern warned on Tuesday, before the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow. Economists have failed to take account of the “immense risks and potential loss of life” that could occur as a result of the climate crisis, he said,… Read More Climate crisis: economists ‘grossly undervalue young lives’

Dilip

Facebook Papers paint damning picture of company's role in insurrection

The documents, including an internal post-mortem and one document showing in real time countermeasures Facebook employees were belatedly implementing, paint a picture of a company that was in fact fundamentally unprepared for how the Stop the Steal movement used its platform to organize, and that only truly swung into action after the movement had turned… Read More Facebook Papers paint damning picture of company's role in insurrection

Dilip

P. B. Mehta – Violence and communalism: South Asia’s disturbing commonality

The violence against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh is an ominous development. But it is also a reminder of one cardinal truth: All of South Asia is “tied together in a single garment of destiny,” to borrow Martin Luther King’s phrase from a different context. Violence in one place will spill over to another; freedom… Read More P. B. Mehta – Violence and communalism: South Asia’s disturbing commonality

Dilip

The Party of Moderate Progress Within the Bounds of the Law

The Party of Moderate Progress Within the Bounds of the Law (PMPWBL, Czech: Strana Mírného Pokroku v Mezích Zákona (SMPVMZ)) was a satirical political party in Cisleithania (Austro-Hungary), founded by Jaroslav Hašek in 1911. The party campaigned satirically for election to the Imperial Council (Austria). Due to their dual nature as both a political “party”… Read More The Party of Moderate Progress Within the Bounds of the Law

Dilip

Haroon: Ibtada-e-Ishq hai rota hai kya / Aage Aaage dekhiye hota hai kya

Ibtada-e-Ishq hai rota hai kya / Aage Aaage dekhiye hota hai kya Man Kunto Maula Abi Sampa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyZZBpxcLMw Cafe De Anatolia – Most Beautiful Songs V  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9w7cDeCguo African Relaxing Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njj4CX4OAMU Isle of Skye Drone Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RTMLn7rDRw&t=554s Kamlee: Hadiqa Kiani https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oGSq6iGSjQ Vangelis – Theme from Antarctica https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOwuniIgYXM Oxygene – The Ocean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI3yNckfSvU Nawang Khechog – Tibet – Cry… Read More Haroon: Ibtada-e-Ishq hai rota hai kya / Aage Aaage dekhiye hota hai kya

Dilip

Bharat Bhushan: Will economic stress and hunger lead to political change?

Even while the buzz is that the Indian economy is on the road to recovery, Agence France Presse (AFP) reports that many middle class Indian families are selling gold to stay afloat. Mumbai jewellers told AFP that a majority were women selling off their personal jewellery – gold bangles, rings, necklaces and earrings. One of them said,… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Will economic stress and hunger lead to political change?

Dilip

A labourer is anyway a burden on Earth, now he has to face bullets too: Voices of migrant workers in Kashmir

HUNDREDS of migrant labourers left Kashmir on Monday morning, as two more killings on Sunday took the number of civilian deaths in attacks in the Valley this month to 11. While scores of them were huddled into secure accommodations by the J&K Police immediately after Sunday’s attack, the third on migrant workers in Kashmir in less than… Read More A labourer is anyway a burden on Earth, now he has to face bullets too: Voices of migrant workers in Kashmir

Dilip