What concerns me is a more glaring omission: how would a Tibetan, a Dai, a Uighur, or Mongol respond to the assertion that the Chinese discourse on race was never characterized by a “gruesome efficiency”? Or is Tibet to be reduced to an instance in which perceptions of sociocultural difference outweigh those of race? Reviewed… Read More Frank Dikötter: The Discourse of Race in Modern China
GAZA casualties, live statistics The essential background to understand the unthinkable: a 21st century genocide broadcast live 24/7 to the whole planet In what can be considered the most crucial podcast of 2024 so far, Professor Michael Hudson – the author of seminal works such as Super-Imperialism and the recent The Collapse of Antiquity , among others – clinically lays down the… Read More The Gaza genocide as explicit policy: Michael Hudson names all names
First posted March 2017; March 2018 Melissa Davey A study of ancient Aboriginal hair samples has revealed distinct Aboriginal populations were present in Australia with little geographical movement for up to 50,000 years. The discovery of such a long, continuous presence in the those regions emphasised why land was so sacred to Aboriginal people, researchers… Read More Aboriginal DNA study reveals 50,000-year story of sacred ties to land / Australian dig finds evidence of habitation 80,000 years ago
Bharat Bhushan Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Opposition leaders of displaying a “Mughal mindset” when videos surfaced of Lalu Yadav, Tejashvi, and Rahul Gandhi bonding over cooking mutton. Not only did he accuse them of deviating from Hindu dharma in the auspicious month of Sawan, but he also alleged that the display of bonhomie was deliberate. The videos,… Read More Food, community and elections
David Painter and Gregory Brew, The Struggle for Iran: Oil, Autocracy, and the Cold War, 1951–1954 Reviewed by MARC MARTORELL JUNYENT Munich (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The figure of Mohammad Mosaddeq, Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 to 1953, is an uncomfortable one for both sides of the US-Iran rivalry. For the US, Mosaddeq… Read More The Origins of the West’s Iran Crisis: Oil, Autocracy and Coup
The U.S. government’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s annihilation of Gaza – torrents of heavy weaponry, diplomatic and political cover, and vast majorities in Congress swearing fealty to Netanyahu’s extremist regime – is usually attributed to AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), the powerful domestic pro-Israeli government lobby, organized in every Congressional District, with its abundant… Read More Ralph Nader: The Mutually Reinforcing US and Israeli Empires
(NB: In 2022 alone, 7.5 lac Indian students migrated abroad for higher studies. By 2025, Indian students studying abroad are expected to spend up to $70 billion. Those curious about Sardar Patel’s proficiency in English and also his views on V. D. Savarkar’s role in Gandhiji’s assassination, could check volume 6 of Selected Correspondence of Sardar… Read More Ruchir Joshi: Out of depth – India’s anti-knowledge brigade
Rouven J. Steeves Introduction: “The Light Shines in the Darkness . . .“ The study of politics presupposes the study of man. The study of man demands we consider the nature of being as ensouled flesh. This leads us into the realm of philosophy and, by extension, given that we are interested in man as… Read More Psychologists of Evil: Nietzsche and Dostoevsky on the Darkness of the Soul
Rohini Hensman Introduction Myth and reality are intertwined in accounts of how Buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka. According to the Mahavamsa, a 6th century CE epic, the Buddha himself visited Lanka on three occasions, but this myth has effectively been demolished by scholars[1]. There is more evidence for the story that in the third century BCE, when Ashoka ruled… Read More Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism & Women In Sri Lanka
Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, April 6, 2024 BOOKS: IMAGE & SOUND: Editor’s Picks
After the truth-shower 