The US left Vietnam 50 years ago today. The media hasn’t learned its lesson

The myth that news coverage turned Americans against the war persists. In fact, it was largely complicit in perpetuating the conflict Norman Solomon The last helicopter liftoff from the roof of the American embassy in Saigon on 30 April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam war. Fifty years later, mythology about US media coverage of… Read More The US left Vietnam 50 years ago today. The media hasn’t learned its lesson

The incredible tale of Anna Politkovskaya has taught me one thing: I could never be that brave

She faced endless opposition and threats to her life. This has become a reality for far too many journalists Maxine Peake A woman places flowers in front of a portrait of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Moscow, 2009. Photograph: Pavel Golovkin/AP What drives someone to become a journalist? A good journalist, someone whose keyboard is a tool for exposing… Read More The incredible tale of Anna Politkovskaya has taught me one thing: I could never be that brave

Juan Cole: Israel’s Gaza Atrocity by the Numbers

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Gaza by the numbers: The UN Relief and Works Agency reports about the situation on the ground: The agency says that since the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unilaterally ended the Gaza ceasefire on the night of 17–18 March 2025, fighting has escalated sharply, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians,… Read More Juan Cole: Israel’s Gaza Atrocity by the Numbers

A lesson from Brazil – where gig workers have rallied against the right

Rodrigo Nunes, a senior lecturer in political theory, explains how despite harsh economic conditions creating fertile ground for ‘entrepreneur culture’, resistance has sprung up among delivery drivers Rodrigo Nunes On 1 April, Brazilian couriers organised a day of action in which thousands of workers engaged in pickets and protests in at least 60 cities, with places… Read More A lesson from Brazil – where gig workers have rallied against the right

Hridayesh Joshi: सिन्धु जल समझौते पर क्यों डरा है पाकिस्तान

Hridayesh Joshi: सिन्धु जल समझौते पर क्यों डरा है पाकिस्तान अपनी ज़मीन पर दहशतगर्दी रोकने के लिए भारत को हर मुमकिन कदम उठाना चाहिए। सिन्धु जल समझौते को स्थगित कर उसने एक कड़ा रणनीतिक और कूटनीतिक संदेश दिया है लेकिन मीडिया में कई जगह चीज़ों को बढ़ाचढ़ा कर दिखाया जा रहा है और गलत सूचना… Read More Hridayesh Joshi: सिन्धु जल समझौते पर क्यों डरा है पाकिस्तान

Cynical Theories

In the end, traditional liberal values are what Lindsay and Pluckrose are plumping for…. They conclude with a set of proposals for rethinking concepts such as ‘justice’ and ‘equity’, along lines allegedly more harmonious with reason, proof, logic, evidence, individuality, and choice, and less encumbered by group-think and by obscurantist, inflammatory collectivist rhetoric. Less propaganda,… Read More Cynical Theories

Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know

A wise and wonderfully enjoyable book on the enduring power of stupidity. “Paul made possible the transformation of the Gospels’ beautiful moral ideal into an anti-intellectual ideology that was enshrined permanently in the Christian scriptures and has since passed into our secular societies. That ideology has attracted a certain sort of mind ever since –… Read More Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know

‘Problem not with Kashmir, but government’s security arrangements’: Wife of Surat bank manager who was killed in Pahalgam

Shital Kalathiya sharply criticised the Union government Union Jal Shakti Minister C R Paatil, who came to pay homage at Shailesh Kalathiya’s funeral.  Kamal Saiyed Shital Kalathiya, wife of bank manager Shailesh who died in the terror attack in Pahalgam, burst out at Union Jal Shakti minister C R Paatil who came to pay homage… Read More ‘Problem not with Kashmir, but government’s security arrangements’: Wife of Surat bank manager who was killed in Pahalgam

War Dust and Collateral Inhalation — Israel Breathes in Gaza’s Death

NB: Israel, in executing the unprecedented bombing attack on Gaza, is, in effect, bombing itself, with grave consequences for the public health of its people. What is being visited upon Gaza does not stay in Gaza. This is the chemical Karma of genocide. DS By Dennis Kucinich / Substack Gaza is suffering the most intense bombing,… Read More War Dust and Collateral Inhalation — Israel Breathes in Gaza’s Death