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

From Mumbai 26/11 to Pahalgam, India has entered the post-truth era

During Operation Sindoor, the Indian media did not merely broadcast propaganda – it deliberately subverted the truth. Nissim Mannathukkaren The India-Pakistan conflict in May left a deep chasm in the subcontinent. It also revealed a breakdown on both sides of the border on what constitutes fact and the truth. This reflects an unprecedented polarisation of… Read More From Mumbai 26/11 to Pahalgam, India has entered the post-truth era

Dilip

Seyla Benhabib: Breaking Silence, Hannah Arendt, and Martin Luther King

“If America’s soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam” – M. L. King “Civil disobedience arises when a significant number of citizens have become convinced either that the normal channels of change no longer function, and grievances will not be heard or acted upon, or that, on the contrary the government… Read More Seyla Benhabib: Breaking Silence, Hannah Arendt, and Martin Luther King

Dilip

Chief Israel planner at Pentagon bashes Israel publicly, extensively

“If this is what he’s publicly sharing, who knows what he’s saying behind closed doors,” a Pentagon contractor, who has interacted with Col. Nathan McCormack, told JNS. Andrew Bernard Col. Nathan McCormack, the Levant and Egypt branch chief at the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J5 planning directorate, has referred publicly to “Netanyahu and his Judeo-supremacist… Read More Chief Israel planner at Pentagon bashes Israel publicly, extensively

Dilip

Trump brushes off US intelligence reports on Iran to align himself with Israel

President has dismissed verdict by handpicked spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons Andrew Roth Analysis Trump brushes off US intel reports on Iran to align himself with Israel President has dismissed verdict by handpicked spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons Andrew Roth Tulsi Gabbard, the… Read More Trump brushes off US intelligence reports on Iran to align himself with Israel

Dilip

Japanese Protest Art in the 1950’s: the forgotten reportage painters

Linda Hoaglund NB: The artwork here has an ominous, surreal beauty; and it touches the soul. To me, it reflects what is happening in Gaza today, where ordinary people are burnt like grass and the world looks away. Hiroshi is now 92 years old, and was 12 when the firebombing destroyed Hamamatsu, his native town.… Read More Japanese Protest Art in the 1950’s: the forgotten reportage painters

Dilip

Hans Magnus Enzensberger: The Industrialization of the Mind

First posted March 2013 But certainly for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, the appearance to the essence… illusion only is sacred, truth profane. Nay, sacredness is held to be enhanced in proportion as truth decreases and illusion increases, so that the… Read More Hans Magnus Enzensberger: The Industrialization of the Mind

Dilip

Trump, Netanyahu and Khamenei – three angry old men who could get us all killed

Whether inept, driven by survival or corrupt, they are unfit to lead their countries, let alone make decisions that imperil the whole world Simon Tisdall This was not inevitable. This is a war Israel chose. It could have been prevented. Diplomatic talks were ongoing when the bombers took off for Iran. Israel’s continuing, illegal, unjustified… Read More Trump, Netanyahu and Khamenei – three angry old men who could get us all killed

Dilip