Earth’s ozone layer on way to recovery, finds UN report, should mend by 2040

A United Nations-backed scientific panel has concluded that actions taken under the Montreal Protocol have successfully strengthened the Earth’s ozone layer, helping avoid global warming from 0.5 to 1 degrees Celsius by mid-century. The Montreal Protocol is an 1989 international treaty aimed at regulating the production and use of chemicals that contribute to the depletion… Read More Earth’s ozone layer on way to recovery, finds UN report, should mend by 2040

Dilip

California storm: floods, tornado warnings as death toll climbs

SACRAMENTO — Heavy rain continued to drench California on Tuesday as an ongoing parade of storms left much of the state in disarray, with power outages, collapsed roadways, mud and landslides, and treacherous floodwaters widespread across nearly the length of the state. Authorities have attributed at least 17 fatalities to the onslaught of storms that… Read More California storm: floods, tornado warnings as death toll climbs

Dilip

Brazil: A dangerous cocktail of violence and lies

Philipp Lichterbeck Repairing the physical damage following the rampage of the Bolsonarist fanatics will likely cost millions, which will have to come from Brazil’s taxpayers. The harm done to Brazil’s democracy and to the country’s collective psyche, however, is far greater. A fanatical and violent minority went on a rampage in the capital, Brasilia, on camera. While the… Read More Brazil: A dangerous cocktail of violence and lies

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Iran protests: Jailed activist Sepideh Qolian describes brutality in letter

One of Iran’s most prominent female activists has described how confessions are forced out of prisoners, in a letter written inside a notorious jail. Sepideh Qolian has been serving a five-year sentence since 2018 after being convicted of acting “against national security” for supporting a strike. Writing from Evin prison, she describes the brutal treatment… Read More Iran protests: Jailed activist Sepideh Qolian describes brutality in letter

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Israelis protest “Thuggish” “Fascist” new Government, as it Proceeds to Ensconce Apartheid toward Palestinians

JUAN COLE Last Saturday evening, activists said that on Sunday, 20,000 Israelis staged demonstrations and marches against the new Netanyahu government, which has given powerful ministries to the small Religious Zionist and Jewish Power blocs of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, respectively. Both are given to racist and intolerant statements about persons of Palestinian heritage, who constitute… Read More Israelis protest “Thuggish” “Fascist” new Government, as it Proceeds to Ensconce Apartheid toward Palestinians

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‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ in Golden Globes race

Kevin Tschierse It’s the first non-English language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel “All Quiet on the Western Front.” German director Edward Berger has taken it upon himself to venture a German interpretation that launched internationally on Netflix in October 2022.  Some critics have praised the remake as a successful anti-war drama, while others criticize the… Read More ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ in Golden Globes race

Dilip

Transition Theory

Tim Barker A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism by Jairus Banaji (2020) Capitalism is either eternal or it isn’t. There are people who defend the first view, or something close to it – the 2014 multivolume Cambridge History of Capitalism opens in Babylonia, circa 1000 BCE – but it is much more plausible that capitalism, like most… Read More Transition Theory

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‘Only a God Can Save Us’: Martin Heidegger & Nazism. A Film by Jeffrey Van Davis

NB: This is an interesting historical documentary; and the comments are also thought provoking. (I do not agree with everything said here: for instance the suggestion – at about 1 hr 11 m – that Hannah Arendt’s phrase ‘the banality of evil’ was a way of suppressing the horror of Nazism, or that she blamed… Read More ‘Only a God Can Save Us’: Martin Heidegger & Nazism. A Film by Jeffrey Van Davis

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Netanyahu Ushers in the Most Anti-Palestinian Government in Israel’s History

By Marjorie Cohn / Truthout Benjamin Netanyahu has been sworn in for his sixth term as prime minister of Israel. While his prior tenures resulted in the commission of war crimes against the Palestinian people, Netanyahu’s new regime promises to be the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history. Netanyahu won reelection despite facing criminal charges for bribery, fraud… Read More Netanyahu Ushers in the Most Anti-Palestinian Government in Israel’s History

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