Chris Hedges: America is a de-facto one-party state whose business is war

Wars can get started by Democrats, such as Harry S. Truman in Korea or John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in Vietnam, and perpetuated by Republicans. Or they can get started by Republicans, such as George W. Bush, and perpetuated by Democrats such as Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Bill Clinton, without declaring war, imposed… Read More Chris Hedges: America is a de-facto one-party state whose business is war

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Myanmar military atrocities may amount to war crimes, says rights group

The Myanmar military kidnapped civilians and forced them to work as human shields, attacked homes, churches and carried out massacres, according to a report that warns recent atrocities in eastern Myanmar may amount to war crimes. The report, by the Myanmar-founded human rights group Fortify Rights, documents abuses by the country’s military in Karenni state, also known as… Read More Myanmar military atrocities may amount to war crimes, says rights group

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Mauritius formally challenges Britain’s ownership of Chagos Islands

Britain’s ownership of the Chagos archipelago has been formally challenged after the Mauritian ambassador to the UN, Jagdish Koonjul, raised his country’s flag above the atoll of Peros Banhos. In a ceremony on Monday at 10.30am local time, Mauritian officials sang their country’s national anthem and the red, blue, yellow and green standard was raised up… Read More Mauritius formally challenges Britain’s ownership of Chagos Islands

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Robert Reich – Beware of this deadly mix: oligarchic economics and racist, nationalist populism

The United States presents itself as the beacon of democracy in contrast to the autocracies of China and Russia. Yet American democracy is in danger of succumbing to the same sort of oligarchic economics and racist nationalism that thrive in both these powers. After all, it wasn’t long ago that Donald Trump – who openly admired Xi… Read More Robert Reich – Beware of this deadly mix: oligarchic economics and racist, nationalist populism

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Bharat Bhushan: Verbal abuse of political opponents part of a larger malaise

So long as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma kept a low profile, he was seen as an emerging leader from Assam. However, with political success he has turned into a profligate commentator and revealed himself as incapable of civilised political discourse. His comments on Rahul Gandhi’s parentage normally should not be worthy of public… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Verbal abuse of political opponents part of a larger malaise

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Theodor Adorno's Minima Moralia is a warning against resurgent fascism. By Peter E. Gordon

‘Some have to play the game because they cannot otherwise live, and those who could live otherwise are kept out because they do not want to play the game’ Seventy years after its publication, Theodor Adorno’s Minima Moralia is a warning against resurgent fascism      Minima Moralia is a work of exile. Published just over… Read More Theodor Adorno's Minima Moralia is a warning against resurgent fascism. By Peter E. Gordon

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Adele Dipasquale: Careless mothers, sterile goddesses and ungrateful offspring

Nature is a tricky term. It can refer to the quality of things, to what moves things into existence or to the world as a whole. Read and heard, from political debate to food labelling, it is in constant use: back to nature, 100% natural, natural order, unnatural acts, natural ways of living, wisdom of… Read More Adele Dipasquale: Careless mothers, sterile goddesses and ungrateful offspring

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Chris Hedges: Heeding James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’

One hundred years ago this week, Sylvia Beach, who ran the bookstore Shakespeare and Company on 12 rue de l’Odéon in Paris and nurtured a community of expatriate writers that included Richard Wright, T.S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, Thornton Wilder, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, placed in the bookstore’s front window a… Read More Chris Hedges: Heeding James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’

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