Devi Sridhar: A scientist in the public eye has taken her own life. This has to be a wake-up call

Lisa-Maria Kellermayr, an Austrian GP, was a doctor who dedicated her life to her patients and was vocal about the risks of Covid-19 on Twitter and in the media. She had endured months of death threats from Covid conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers. Colleagues expressed frustration with the lack of support she received for dealing with… Read More Devi Sridhar: A scientist in the public eye has taken her own life. This has to be a wake-up call

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Salman Rushdie on ventilator after being stabbed onstage at New York state event

Sir Salman Rushdie remains on a ventilator after being attacked onstage at an event in western New York state on Friday morning. Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and torso as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. Rushdie, 75, was… Read More Salman Rushdie on ventilator after being stabbed onstage at New York state event

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Conversation with Lawrence Lifschultz (2014): The reporter who investigated the assassination of Mujibur Rahman

there are indications that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia may have had prior knowledge that the coup d’etat would take place. Both countries recognised the “Islamic Republic of Bangladesh” very soon after Mujib’s death. Clearly, this represented some level of coordination between Islamabad and Riyadh. The coincidence is simply too coincidental… Lawrence Lifschultz has been writing… Read More Conversation with Lawrence Lifschultz (2014): The reporter who investigated the assassination of Mujibur Rahman

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Ramachandra Guha: Reading about Mussolini’s Italy in Modi’s India

I read a lot of biographies, these often set in other countries than my own. A book I have just finished is Benedetto Croce and Italian Fascism, by the Canadian scholar, Fabio Fernando Rizi. It uses the life of a great philosopher to tell a larger story of the times he passed through. Reading Rizi’s book,… Read More Ramachandra Guha: Reading about Mussolini’s Italy in Modi’s India

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Report that FBI sought nuclear documents sharpens Trump showdown with Justice Department

A report that FBI agents searched for classified documents related to nuclear weapons at Donald Trump’s Florida resort could explain the urgency of the unprecedented operation at the home of an ex-President and takes his showdown with the Justice Department to a grave new level. The account in The Washington Post could also undercut Republican lawmakers, who didn’t wait for details of the case… Read More Report that FBI sought nuclear documents sharpens Trump showdown with Justice Department

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Bharat Bhushan: Will Bihar Curb BJP’s arrogance?

The loss of its coalition government with Janata Dal (United) in the state of Bihar underlines the shortcomings of the Bharatiya Janata party’s (BJP’s) newfound strategy of paramountcy. It earlier targeted only Opposition parties but now even its allies are not safe. Its increasing sense of entitlement manifests itself as greater disrespect towards other political… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Will Bihar Curb BJP’s arrogance?

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Peter Kreko, Alan Sokal: In defence of the objective world

Postmodern ideas have gained the status of absolute truths. Relativism, selectively appropriated into the language of both left and right politics, has metamorphosed into dogma. As oversimplification distorts communication, public trust in scientific fact has eroded. Could renewed ideas of objectivity be a way out? ‘A relativism metamorphosed into dogmatic absolutism is obviously logically incoherent,… Read More Peter Kreko, Alan Sokal: In defence of the objective world

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The CIA’s Intervention in Afghanistan: Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paris, 15-21 January 1998

The CIA’s Intervention in Afghanistan: Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski,  President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser  Le Nouvel Observateur, Paris, 15-21 January 1998  Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser to Jimmy Carter, Dies at 89 Question: The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates, stated in his memoirs [“From the Shadows”], that American intelligence services began to aid… Read More The CIA’s Intervention in Afghanistan: Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Paris, 15-21 January 1998

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Book review: Imperium by Ryszard Kapuściński (1993)

I thought about the terrible uselessness of suffering. Love leaves behind its creation-the next generation coming into the world; the continuation of humanity. But suffering? Such a great part of human experience, the most difficult and painful, passes leaving no trace. If one were to collect the energy of suffering emitted by the millions of… Read More Book review: Imperium by Ryszard Kapuściński (1993)

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