This evening, Jagan Pillarisetti and will be speaking at the New York Military Affairs Symposium on ‘Indian Air Force Operations in the 1971 Liberation War.’ Our talk will be based on our book Eagles over Bangladesh: The Indian Air Force in the 1971 Liberation War (Harper Collins, 2013). Here is the jacket description: In DecemberContinue reading “Nixon, Kissinger, And The 1971 Genocide In Bangladesh”
Category Archives: Politics
John Muir On The ‘Negroes’ Of The American South
John Muir often wrote soaring prose about the beauties and majesties of nature, about how the outdoors were our ‘natural cathedrals’; he urged his fellow human beings to leave behind their sordid, grubby, weekday cares and let themselves be elevated by the sublime qualities of hill and vale and river and babbling brook. Here, onContinue reading “John Muir On The ‘Negroes’ Of The American South”
The Defenses Of United Airlines’ Behavior Reveal Some Uncomfortable Truths
There are, roughly, two kinds of defenses offered of United Airlines’ behavior–in DraggingGate–that have been offered thus far. First, the ‘abide by the terms of the contract’ defense. Second, the ‘just shut up and obey orders, and everything will be allright’ defense. On closer inspection, of course, these two turn out to be instantiations ofContinue reading “The Defenses Of United Airlines’ Behavior Reveal Some Uncomfortable Truths”
No, Shmuel Rosner, Jews Should Not Keep Their Politics Out Of Passover
Shmuel Rosner suggests we should keep Passover apolitical and disdains the new Seders that reconfigure the Haggadah: In some ways, new readings of the Haggadah are a blessing. They take an ancient text and make it relevant. They make it easier for disconnected Jews to find meaning in the Passover Seder. They enable a contemporaryContinue reading “No, Shmuel Rosner, Jews Should Not Keep Their Politics Out Of Passover”
Brian Williams Is Right: War Is Beautiful, And We Are Fascinated By It
Brian Williams has offended many with his invocation of the ‘beauty’ of the weapons fired into Syria on Thursday. But he is right: war and its weapons are beautiful, and we are surrounded by them; we succumb all to easily to their embrace, to the clarion call of war, precisely because we find them beautiful. AsContinue reading “Brian Williams Is Right: War Is Beautiful, And We Are Fascinated By It”
Missile Firing Day: The Republic’s Inaugural Day Is Here
There is a popular and enduring American fiction that the US President is sworn into office on something called Inauguration Day, which is commemorated on January 20th in Washington DC. Seasoned students of the Republic are well aware, however, that the actual, truly meaningful, Inauguration Day is not so rigidly anchored to a particular freezingContinue reading “Missile Firing Day: The Republic’s Inaugural Day Is Here”
Pat Tillman, The Skeptical ‘Warrior’ And ‘Hero’
The Pat Tillman who is the centerpiece of Jon Krakauer‘s Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman is a familiar, often admirable, archetype: the ‘warrior’ who wants to fight, to win glory, but who doubts the moral standing of the domain in which he will exercise his courage and skills, and as such,Continue reading “Pat Tillman, The Skeptical ‘Warrior’ And ‘Hero’”
A Teachable Moment For The Republican Party
That famous Republican Party discipline (or, ideological commitment), the one that made sure that many of Barack Obama’s legislative priorities were derailed through relentless parliamentary grandstanding, that ensured the federal government’s operations were shut down, producing misery and inconvenience for many, that produced budgetary brinksmanship of the highest order and negatively affected the national debtContinue reading “A Teachable Moment For The Republican Party”
Report On Brooklyn College Teach-In On ‘Web Surveillance And Security’
Yesterday, as part of ‘The Brooklyn College Teach-In & Workshop Series on Resistance to the Trump Agenda,’ I facilitated a teach-in on the topic of ‘web surveillance and security.’ During my session I made note of some of the technical and legal issues that are play in these domains, and how technology and law haveContinue reading “Report On Brooklyn College Teach-In On ‘Web Surveillance And Security’”
Talking Philosophy With Kids At The Brooklyn Public Library
This Sunday afternoon at 4PM, I will be participating in a Philosophy for Kids event at the Grand Army Plaza branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (in the Info Commons Lab); the event is sponsored by the Cultural Services Office of the French Embassy. I’ll be functioning as a kind of Philosophical Advice Columnist takingContinue reading “Talking Philosophy With Kids At The Brooklyn Public Library”
Samir Chopra 