Robert Reich: Is America experiencing an unofficial general strike?

Last Friday’s jobs report from the US Department of Labor elicited a barrage of gloomy headlines. The New York Times emphasized “weak” jobs growth and fretted that “hiring challenges that have bedeviled employers all year won’t be quickly resolved,” and “rising wages could add to concerns about inflation.” For CNN, it was “another disappointment”. For… Read More Robert Reich: Is America experiencing an unofficial general strike?

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When a Hindu is killed in Kashmir, all Kashmiri Muslims must condemn it, just as all Hindus must condemn lynching of Muslims anywhere in India – Sanjay Tickoo

Ajaz Ashraf interviews Sanjay Tickoo; president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti. The KPSS was established by him in 1995 to fight, non-violently, for the rights of his community members residing in the Kashmir Valley. When the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits began in 1990 because of the rise of militancy in the Valley, Tickoo, then around 23 years… Read More When a Hindu is killed in Kashmir, all Kashmiri Muslims must condemn it, just as all Hindus must condemn lynching of Muslims anywhere in India – Sanjay Tickoo

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N.S. Lyons: The Triumph and Terror of Wang Huning

NB: A very thought-provoking essay.    “The real cell of society in the United States is the individual…. the family, has disintegrated.’ (In the American system) “everything has a dual nature, and the glamour of high commodification abounds. Human flesh, sex, knowledge, politics, power, and law can all become the target of commodification (which) corrupts… Read More N.S. Lyons: The Triumph and Terror of Wang Huning

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Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn

World leaders must do more to prevent the destruction of nature, business leaders have warned before a summit in China that aims to draw up a draft UN agreement for biodiversity. In an open letter, the chief executives of Unilever, H&M and nine other companies have called on governments to take meaningful action on mass extinctions of wildlife… Read More Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn

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Siva Vaidhyanathan: Facebook has just suffered its most devastating PR catastrophe yet / Jonathan Freedland: Is Facebook the tobacco industry of the 21st century?

In recent days, Frances Haugen, a former member of Facebook’s “civic integrity team”, has launched a deft and professional public assault on the company. Unlike previous Facebook whistle-blowers, like former Facebook data scientist Sophie Zhang, Haugen managed to capture the interest and attention of policy leaders and journalists around the world. We have to ask why Haugen… Read More Siva Vaidhyanathan: Facebook has just suffered its most devastating PR catastrophe yet / Jonathan Freedland: Is Facebook the tobacco industry of the 21st century?

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P. B. Mehta: What the attacks against minorities in Kashmir reveal

India’s security environment is precarious, its political future fragile, and its human sympathies dead. It will require a great act of statesmanship to overcome these challenges. The targeted terror attacks against minorities in Kashmir mark a dangerous but not entirely unanticipated turn. It is important to be clear that these are targeted killings. Sikhs and Hindus… Read More P. B. Mehta: What the attacks against minorities in Kashmir reveal

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George Monbiot: Trashing the planet and hiding the money isn’t a perversion of capitalism. It is capitalism

Whenever there’s a leak of documents from the remote islands and obscure jurisdictions where rich people hide their money, such as this week’s release of the Pandora papers, we ask ourselves how such things could happen. How did we end up with a global system that enables great wealth to be transferred offshore, untaxed and hidden… Read More George Monbiot: Trashing the planet and hiding the money isn’t a perversion of capitalism. It is capitalism

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Ashwani Kumar: Lakhimpur Kheri Tells Us It's Time to Rescue a Democracy in Retreat / Bharat Bhushan – Lakhimpur: A threat to both BJP and farmers' leaders

This is a moment of reckoning for a nation scarred. The unspeakable tragedy in Lakhimpur Kheri has wounded the nation’s sensitivity to its core. The 30-second video vividly depicting the gruesome murder of innocent citizens by a bunch of goons sheltered by ‘netas‘ drunk on power has once again exposed the fault-lines of our politics and a… Read More Ashwani Kumar: Lakhimpur Kheri Tells Us It's Time to Rescue a Democracy in Retreat / Bharat Bhushan – Lakhimpur: A threat to both BJP and farmers' leaders

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Pandora Papers: Suspect foreign money flows into booming American tax havens on promise of eternal secrecy

NB: What is capitalism without cronies and corruption? Will the free-market cult followers consider why capital is free, but human beings are not? DS Suspect foreign money flows into booming American tax havens By Will Fitzgibbon, Salwan Georges and Debbie Cenziper Across from a Holiday Inn, in a red-brick building with a welcome sign that… Read More Pandora Papers: Suspect foreign money flows into booming American tax havens on promise of eternal secrecy

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Prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman shot dead in Srinagar

NB: Another heinous crime committed in communal hatred. The cold-blooded murder of defenceless people to make a political point is pure fascism. DS Makhan Lal Bindroo, owner of a prominent Srinagar pharmacy, was shot dead by suspected militants on Tuesday, inside his business premises at Iqbal Park here, police said. Bindroo, 68, was shot by… Read More Prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman shot dead in Srinagar

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