Tag Archives: Politics

The New York Times — Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

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How U.S. Firms Battled a Government Crackdown to Keep Tech Sales to China

An intense struggle has unfolded in Washington between companies and officials over where to draw the line on selling technology to China.

Joy Buoys Syria’s First Friday Prayers Since Assad Ouster, but Hardships Loom

In an impoverished, war-ravaged country, the first prayers after the fall of a brutal regime drew jubilant crowds, even in areas seen as regime strongholds.

The Fall of al-Assad Quickly Infuses Europe’s Debate Over Asylum

Nearly a million Syrians in Germany alone have made new lives. But after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, some politicians across the continent have suggested that refugees could return home.

McKinsey to Pay $650 Million in Opioid Settlement With Justice Department

A former senior partner will also plead guilty to obstruction of justice after destroying company documents.

Commentary Magazine – January 2025 Preview

Commentary Magazine (December 12, 2024) The latest issue features ‘The Anti-Woke King Of Hollywood Lets Loose’ – Taylor Sheridan’s shows explain how and why we got Trump again…

The Anti-Woke King of Hollywood Lets Loose

Taylor Sheridan’s shows explain how and why we got Trump again by Rick Marin

Israel Chose, and the World Changed

by John Podhoretz

The Trumpmoon

by Matthew Continetti

The Times Will Stop at Nothing

by Christine Rosen

The Economist Magazine – December 14, 2024 Preview

All weekly editions | The Economist

The Economist Magazine (December 12, 2024): The latest issue features ‘What Now?’…

How the new Syria might succeed or fail

The end of the house of Assad. Much will go wrong. But for now, celebrate a tyrant’s fall

What Spain can teach the rest of Europe

Our number-crunching suggests it was the best-performing rich economy in 2024

America’s searing market rally brings new risks

Financial innovation is just as much to blame as the technological sort

Multilateral institutions are turning away from the poorest countries

Even bail-outs are getting expensive

The New York Times — Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

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Syria’s New Leaders Balance Huge Struggles Amid Disorder

The rebels who seized control called for foreign help in prosecuting atrocities, while trying to restore order in a fractured country.

Power, Intimidation and the Resurrection of Trump’s Support for Hegseth

The president-elect became convinced that letting Pete Hegseth fail would set off a feeding frenzy among senators. What followed was a MAGA swarm that helped salvage his bid, at least for now.

Recent Immigration Surge Has Been Largest in U.S. History

Under President Biden, more than two million immigrants per year have entered, government data shows.

The Gold Rush at the Heart of a Civil War

Heavily destroyed streets.

Famine and ethnic cleansing stalk Sudan. Yet the gold trade is booming, enriching generals and propelling the fight.

Politics: The Guardian Weekly-December 13, 2024

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The Guardian Weekly (December 11, 2024): The new issue features The fall of Syria’s brutal dictatorship. Plus The best books of 2024.

Not even the most optimistic of rebels could have predicted the rapid collapse, last weekend, of the Assad dynasty that ruled Syria with an iron fist for more than 50 years. Yet while there was relief and joy both inside Syria and among the nation’s vast displaced diaspora, it was also accompanied by apprehension over what might come next.

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Spotlight | Russia and Ukraine wait warily for Trump transition
The idea of the US president-election as a saviour for Ukraine, as unlikely as it may seem, holds an appeal for an exhausted nation without a clear path to victory. Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer report

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Environment | The jailed anti-whaler defiant in face of extradition threat
Capt Paul Watson talks to Daniel Boffey about his arrest on behalf of the Japanese government, his ‘interesting’ Greenland prison, and separation from his children

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Feature | The growing threat of firearms that can be made at home
One far-right cell wanted to use 3D-printed guns to cause ‘maximum confusion and fear’ on the streets of Finland. Could the police intercept them in time? By Samira Shackle

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Opinion | Farage is lying in wait. Britain can’t afford for Starmer to fail
It is not enough for the Labour leader’s ‘milestones’ to be achieved. Voters must feel the improvement in their daily lives, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland

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Culture | The best books of 2024
From a radical retelling of Huckleberry Finn to Al Pacino’s autobiography, our critics round up their favourite reads of the year

Arts: The Brooklyn Rail – December/January 2025

The Brooklyn Rail (December 11, 2024): The latest issue features…

“When you invent the ship, you must also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane, you must also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution… Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.”
–Paul Virilio

“The human spirit must prevail over technology.”
–Albert Einstein

Art

Critics Page

ArtSeen

Sylvia Plimack Mangold: Tapes, Fields, and Trees, 1975–84 – By Rebecca Allan

David Smith: The Nature of Sculpture – By Phong Bui

Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 – By David Carrier

Jaeheon Lee: Ghosts in the Garden – By William Corwin

Edges of Ailey – By Ekin Erkan

Patterns in Abstraction – By Leia Genis

Jordan Nassar: THERE – By Robert Alan Grand

Jay DeFeo: Trees – By Suzanne Hudson

Nour Mobarak: Dafne Phono – By Eana Kim

Yuli Yamagata: Ghosts Don’t Wear Watches – By Alfred Mac Adam

Soledad Sevilla: Ritmos, tramas, variables – By Valerie Mindlin

Mark Bradford: Keep Walking – By Charles Moore

André Griffo: Exploded View – By Rômulo Moraes

Jesse Krimes: Corrections – By Joanna Seifter

Lynne Drexler: Color Notes – By David Whelan

Rosemarie Beck: Earthly Paradise – By Leah Triplett Harrington

Francesco Clemente: Summer Love in the Fall – By Selena Parnon

Sean Scully: Duane Street, 1981–1983 – By Raphy Sarkissian

Henni Alftan: Stop Making Sense – By Ann C. Collins

Hap Tivey: Perception is the Medium – By Benjamin Clifford

William Gropper: Artist of the People – By Margot Yale

Preview: Philosophy Now Magazine January 2025

Philosophy Now Magazine (December 11,2024)The new issue features ‘The Return of God?’ and Social Media & Plato’s Cave…

Return to God?

by Rick Lewis

NEWS

News: December 2024 / January 2025

Lost Hegel lecture notes now being digitized • Professor Ted Honderich dead at 91 — News reports by Anja Steinbauer

SOCIAL MEDIA

Plato’s Cave & Social Media

Seán Radcliffe asks, has Plato’s Allegory of the Cave been warning us of social media for 2,400 years?

Trolls, Skeptics & Philosophers

Rosemary Twomey questions our online epistemology.

THE RETURN OF GOD?

Exploring Atheism

Amrit Pathak gives us a run-down of the foundations of modern atheism.

A Critique of Pure Atheism

Andrew Likoudis questions the basis of some popular atheist arguments.

Evil & An Omnipotent, Benevolent God

Zdeněk Petráček looks at the biggest problem facing monotheism.

A God of Limited Power

Philip Goff grasps hold of the problem of evil and comes up with a novel solution.

The Best Possible World, But Not For Us

Mohsen Moghri gives a Godless but principled response to the problem of evil.

Medieval Islam & the Nature of God

Musa Mumtaz meditates on two maverick medieval Muslim metaphysicians.

ARTICLES

Metaphors & Creativity

Ignacio Gonzalez-Martinez has a flash of inspiration about the role metaphors play in creative thought.

Seeing & Knowing

Shashwat Mishra explores the limits of perception via the Molyneux problem.

Perpetuating the Santa Deception

Jimmy Alfonso Licon wonders whether pretending there’s a Santa is naughty or nice.

Volney (1757-1820)

John P. Irish travels the path of a revolutionary mind.

How Can We Make A Computer Conscious?

Each answer below receives a random book. Apologies to the entrants not included.

INTERVIEWS

Robert Stern

Robert Stern talks with AmirAli Maleki about philosophy in general, and Kant and Hegel in particular.

LETTERS

Letters

Thoughts on Thoughts on Thoughts • Get Smarter • Decoding A Decoding • A Swift Rebuttal • Basic Arithmetic • A Message on Meaning

COLUMNS

Xenophanes (c.570-c.478 BCE)

by Terence Green

Philosophers on Dance

by Matt Qvortrup

“I refute it thus”

Raymond Tallis kicks immaterialism into touch.

Seneca On Anger

Massimo Pigliucci tells us how to avoid becoming irate.

REVIEWS

Too Late To Awaken by Slavoj Žižek

T.W.J Moxham reads Slavoj Žižek’s little book of Hegelian horrors.

Barriers to Entailment by Gillian Russell

Christopher John Searle recommends a study of which moves are allowed in logical arguments.

It’s A Wonderful Life

Becky Lee Meadows considers questions of guilt, innocence, and despair in this classic Christmas movie.

The New York Times — Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024

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Suspect in C.E.O. Killing Withdrew From a Life of Privilege and Promise

The suspect, Luigi Mangione, was an Ivy League tech graduate from a prominent Maryland family who in recent months had suffered physical and psychological pain.

How a Realtors’ Nonprofit Quietly Funds Conservative Advocacy Groups

The National Association of Realtors has created a nonprofit that gives more heavily to one side of the political aisle and to groups that have little to do with real estate and housing.

What to Know About Syria’s Notorious Sednaya Prison

Amnesty International described it as a “human slaughterhouse,” where, other rights groups say, tens of thousands of people were detained, tortured and killed during the 13-year civil war.

Rage Grows Over a Spate of Brutal Murders of Women in Kenya

Almost 100 women have been killed in the span of three months, the police say. Rights groups want President William Ruto to declare femicide a national crisis.

The New York Times — Tuesday, December 10, 2024

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Shock, Glee and Unease as Syrians Celebrate the Unthinkable

A day after the regime of President Bashar al-Assad fell, civilians poured into the streets of Damascus, weeping in disbelief. Many sought word of relatives held in a notorious prison on the outskirts of the city.

Daniel Penny Is Acquitted in Death of Jordan Neely on Subway

Mr. Penny choked Mr. Neely in a minutes-long struggle on the floor of an F train. The case reflected the pathologies of post-pandemic New York.

Suspect Is Charged in C.E.O.’s Murder After Arrest in Pennsylvania

Luigi Mangione was arrested after a tip from a McDonald’s in Altoona. On Monday night, Manhattan prosecutors charged him with murder.

Spying on Student Devices, Schools Aim to Intercept Self-Harm Before It Happens

New technology alerts schools when students type words related to suicide. But do the timely interventions balance out the false alarms?

Preview: The New Yorker Magazine – Dec. 16, 2024

Santa exits the subway.

The New Yorker (December 9, 2024): The latest issue features Eric Drooker’s “A Seasonal Delivery” – Santa Claus—he’s just like the rest of us.

President Emmanuel Macron Has Plunged France into Chaos

Lawmakers have toppled the government for the first time since 1962. How did we get here? By Lauren Collins

What Will Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Accomplish with Doge?

Two political newcomers have arrived to slash big government, but so far the project seems less revolutionary than advertised.