Workers sent from the country to Chinese factories describe enduring beatings and sexual abuse, having their wages taken by the state, and being told that if they try to escape they will be “killed without a trace.”
Disturbances on the sun may have the potential to devastate our power grid and communication systems. When the next big storm arrives, will we be prepared for it?
The Haitian-Canadian artist surrounds himself with unlikely objects to spark his imagination, books about drawing, and about 25 different types of tea
These timepieces are fluttering, chiming embodiments of how Britain and China traded with each other in the 18th and 19th centuries
At the Whitechapel Gallery, the French-Algerian unspools personal and political histories through imitation sets and empty stages
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (February 23, 2024): The new issue features ‘Enemy of the People’ – Tom Sandoval turned last year’s season of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ into the best in reality TV’s history – and ruined his life in the process..
He turned last year’s season of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ into the best in reality TV’s history — and ruined his life in the proces
An obsession with luxury is transforming cities into bland, isolating landscapes. Architecture should be for creating community.
REASON MAGAZINE (February 23, 2024) – The latest issue features ‘Commander In Chains?’ – What if a Presidential Candidate ends up in jail, incapacitated, or worse – in office?…
There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents an inmate from winning the presidency.
Some Democrats want to mimic the Europe’s policies on phone chargers and more.
New immigration pathways are letting private citizens welcome refugees and other migrants—and getting the government out of the way.
Long Covid provides an opportunity to understand how acute infections cause chronic disease
The Guardian Weekly (February 22, 2024) – The new issue features ‘Ukraine’s Lonely Road’ – After two years, is there a way out of Putin’s war?…
Shaun Walker reports on this week’s big story, the fall of the strategic town of Avdiivka to Russian troops has come at a grim time for Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. While the army is struggling to hold ground, war fatigue is setting in among parts of the population and disagreements among the leadership have been spilling into the open.
At the same time, the death of the jailed Russian critic Alexei Navalny last week – widely seen as another political assassination – appears to emphasise the strengthening hand of Vladimir Putin, who is expected to secure another six-year term as Russia’s president in tightly controlled elections next month. Amid a familiar wave of international outrage, our Russia affairs reporter Pjotr Sauer asks what Putin might do next.
Coupled with the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in the US elections later this year, it all makes for a deeply worrying outlook for Ukraine, reflected in the Kyiv-based illustrator Sergiy Maidukov’s haunting cover artwork for the magazine this week.
“This war is the hardest test of my life, similar to an endless ultramarathon,” writes Sergiy. “It is good to try to not think about the finish when running long distance. This is important knowledge to endure.”
Russian aggression and American wavering reveal just how ill-equipped the continent is
Russia is becoming more dangerous, America is less reliable and Europe remains unprepared. The problem is simply put, but the scale of its solution is hard to comprehend. The security arrangements based on nato that emerged from the second world war—and have prevented a third—are so much part of Europe’s fabric that remaking them will be an immense task. European leaders urgently need to jettison their post-Soviet complacency. That means raising defence spending to a level not seen in decades, restoring Europe’s neglected military traditions, restructuring its arms industries and preparing for a possible war. The work has barely begun.
Pre-budget thoughts for Jeremy Hunt from a fictitious Treasury adviser
The flimsiest of the cases is set to go first, and all face delays
There is no substitute for military aid to Ukraine
There was more to the period than violence, superstition and ignorance, argues a new book
It’s dangerous and it’s spreading. Liberals need to find a way to stop it
The ex-president’s invitation to Vladimir Putin to attack American allies is an assault on NATO. Ultimately, that is bad for America
Times Literary Supplement (February 21, 2024): The latest issue features ‘The Unknown Leader’ – Fintan O’Toole looks for clues in a biography of Keir Starmer; Zelensky on the ropes; Ukraine’s rock star poet; Habermas and social media and The novel of the Year?….
How Big Tech is losing the wars of the future
“Artificial intelligence may indeed affect the way our military operates. But the notion that bright-eyed visionaries from the tech industry are revolutionizing our military machine promotes a myth that this relationship is not only new, but will fundamentally improve our defense system—one notorious for its insatiable appetite for money, poorly performing weapons, and lost wars. In reality, the change flows in the other direction, as new recruits enter the warm embrace of the imperishable military-industrial complex, eager to learn its ways.”
Among the antinatalists
“People would rather be enthusiastic collaborators in a global project than be skeptics of its fundamental integrity. Antinatalism implies or counts on our eventual extinction, and thinking this way is painful.”
Boomers Daily 