Tag: Orwellian reminders

‘The idea was to crush his spirit’: family of jailed British-Egyptian man describe awful prison conditions

As Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s mother remains on hunger strike, supporters say activist’s continued detention is campaign of vengeance by Egypt’s president… Mahmoud Shalaby, a researcher at Amnesty International says: “The whole thing is about making an example of him. He’s already been brutally punished. He has spent almost 10 years in prison solely for practising… Read More ‘The idea was to crush his spirit’: family of jailed British-Egyptian man describe awful prison conditions

Dilip

Hans Magnus Enzensberger: The Industrialization of the Mind

First posted March 2013 But certainly for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, the appearance to the essence… illusion only is sacred, truth profane. Nay, sacredness is held to be enhanced in proportion as truth decreases and illusion increases, so that the… Read More Hans Magnus Enzensberger: The Industrialization of the Mind

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Trump, Netanyahu and Khamenei – three angry old men who could get us all killed

Whether inept, driven by survival or corrupt, they are unfit to lead their countries, let alone make decisions that imperil the whole world Simon Tisdall This was not inevitable. This is a war Israel chose. It could have been prevented. Diplomatic talks were ongoing when the bombers took off for Iran. Israel’s continuing, illegal, unjustified… Read More Trump, Netanyahu and Khamenei – three angry old men who could get us all killed

Dilip

Why the Response to Rahul Gandhi’s Accusation of a Stolen Election Is Less Than Convincing

It is necessary to see how news media has responded to the opposition leader’s article and how soon. Prem Shankar Jha It has taken the Election Commission four months to respond to opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s first disturbing accusation at a press conference in February – that the Commission had somehow managed not to notice that there were… Read More Why the Response to Rahul Gandhi’s Accusation of a Stolen Election Is Less Than Convincing

Dilip

How social media lies fuelled a rush to war between India and Pakistan

Disinformation spread to mainstream channels in what experts call deliberate ‘informational warfare’ Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent As missiles and drones crisscrossed the night skies above India and Pakistan earlier this month, another invisible war was taking place. Not long after the Indian government announced Operation Sindoor, the military offensive against Pakistan triggered by a militant attack in Kashmir that… Read More How social media lies fuelled a rush to war between India and Pakistan

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Azerbaijani man sentenced for ‘treason’ after speaking with Armenian historian, jailed for 18 years

Igbal Abilov was jailed in Azerbaijan over his Skype exchanges with Armenian academic Professor Garnik Asatrian. Trisha Sengupta Igbal Abilov, an Azerbaijani scholar and lecturer at Belarusian State University, was sentenced to 18 years in jail over his online communication with Armenian academic Professor Garnik Asatrian, reported the Armenian Report. The harsh verdict came after Abilov… Read More Azerbaijani man sentenced for ‘treason’ after speaking with Armenian historian, jailed for 18 years

Dilip

Criminalising thought?

Ashoka University academic’s arrest shows how rapidly universities, once spaces for debate and discussion, are pushed towards restraint and silences. Deepanshu Mohan Wilhelm von Humboldt, a great liberal reformer and a humanist, once defined the university as “nothing other than the spiritual life of those human beings who are moved by external leisure or internal pressures… Read More Criminalising thought?

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