Tag: Orwellian reminders

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

Dilip

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?

Dilip

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

Dilip

Wiz Acquisition Puts Israeli Intelligence In Charge of Your Google Data

This long history of violence, skulduggery, and spying raises troubling questions about whether a corporation founded and staffed by dozens of individuals from such an organization can be trusted with billions of users’ private and personal data. By Alan MacLeod / MintPress News Google recently announced it would acquire Israeli-American cloud security firm Wiz for $32 billion. The… Read More Wiz Acquisition Puts Israeli Intelligence In Charge of Your Google Data

Dilip