NM's blog

'US imperialism's policy for a multi-polar world' Related Dispelling the multipolar myth

The BBC on Donald Trump's claim

It is a recommended long read , but subject to subscription access. Volkswagon's driverless car, a forerunner to completely driverless cars, has taken the German company about 18 months to develop, test and now commercially deploy — all in China. It is the fruit of a 700-person research and development team comprised mostly of Chinese software engineers with masters or PhDs and more than five years’ experience.  produced in China. Asked how long it would have taken to deliver something similar back home, Hafkemeyer, who worked with Audi, Chinese state-owned auto group BAIC and tech giant Huawei before joining VW in 2022, sighs with exasperation. Typically, he says, the technology development cycle in Germany is a slog of around four to four-and-a-half years, where ideas are bogged down in endless internal debate and commercial negotiations with suppliers. For decades, China has been the world’s factory and companies have tapped into a low-cost labour force with few protections and ...

“In its bid to attract foreign investment, the government has embraced a  neoliberal model  of economic liberalisation, sharp austerity and a shrinking public sector. These measures have been accompanied by policies and decisions that reinforce the concentration of economic power among the new ruling elite, while the vast majority of Syrians continue to live  in poverty . “So far, the majority of these investments have been in tourism, real estate and financial services, reflecting a focus on short-term profits at the expense of productive sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture.”

Law is not born of nature, beside the springs frequented by the first shepherds; law is born of real battles, of victories, of massacres, of conquests that have their dates and their heroes of horror; law is born from cities set ablaze, from ravaged lands; it is born with the famous innocents who agonize in the breaking dawn. —Michel Foucault,  ‘Society Must Be Defended’: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1975–76 , trans. David Macey, New York 2003 [1997], p. 50. La loi ne naît pas de la nature . . . la loi naît des batailles réelles, des victoires, des massacres, des conquêtes qui ont leur date et leur héros d’horreur: la loi naît des villes incendiées, des terres ravagées; elle naît avec les fameux innocents qui agonisent dans le jour qui se lève. —Michel Foucault, ‘Il faut défendre la société’ footnote

Palestine Action-affiliated prisoner and the arrests of Dr. Ayo Moiett

'Shock and Awe’

By Siomn Tisdall – a liberal who believes in 'international law' Related “I argue that contrary to the traditional understanding, the epoch of ‘formal imperialism’ was not the highpoint of imperialism’s embedding into international law, but that imperialism predated the epoch of formal colonies, and has survived it. There has long been a tendency towards the universalisation of the sovereign state, the fundamental juridical unit of international law, and in a modern ‘anticolonial’ system of international law, imperialism is hidden within law, but I argue that without it, international law could not exist… I argue that coercive political violence – imperialism – is the very means by which international law is made actual in the modern international system. “The international rule of law is not counterposed to force and imperialism: it is an expression of it… In fact… though it is quite true that ‘force decides’, the ‘equal rights’ it mediates are really, and remain, truly equal....

I am not, nor ever have been, in favour of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races — that I am not nor ever have been in favour of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office. — Abraham Lincoln  in an 1858 speech

The doubts raised after Mamdani's victory were legitimate. As  Eric Blanc writes , “ history is  full  of examples of movements demobilizing and subordinating themselves to their friends in power. It would be a tragedy if that happened in New York City…” But, Blanc suggests, “a  more useful and important debate is how to organize enough New Yorkers to win Zohran’s agenda — and to counteract the inevitable pressures on him from capital and the political establishment…  Effective Left strategy always should combine an openness to criticism of electeds with a rigorous  power analysis . More specifically, the intensity of our criticism of Left politicians on a given issue should correlate with our degree of power.

“Whilst, certainly, local and international press have had much more freedom to operate in Syria since Assad’s fall, there have nevertheless been reported attacks on researchers and journalists. “Protests demanding democratic and socio-economic rights have been on the rise in recent months.” “The country’s growing socio-economic challenges have been increasingly met with criticism” towards the authoritarian authorities' policies from Syrians .

Describing entrenched poverty as a "monster," Pujol painted a picture of a society radicalised by decades of neglect . "The monster is a mixture of patronage, corruption, and political and economic decisions made against the public interest," Pujol said. Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia hit highest level since 1980 .

The fascist resemblance between coalition and opposition is no accident. It is called Zionism. In 2025, you can no longer champion this national ideology without being a fascist or a militarist. It is now the essence of Zionism. Maybe it was that way from its start, and honesty requires that we admit that. Netanyahu and Bennett, Ben-Gvir and Lapid are Zionists like almost all Israelis. When it comes to the land, they believe in Jewish supremacy and the lie of a Jewish and democratic state. Fascism is the inevitable consequence of this. It is no longer possible to be a Zionist and not a fascist. — Gideon Levy , Haaretz, 29 October 2025

Interview with Jean-Numa Ducange

Indonesia is  flirting with the  possibility  of formally recognising Israel

Western-centric, but interesting.

  Pat, who is 85, was detained in Manchester yesterday under section 13 of the Terrorism Act after standing with a sign that read “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine action.” She kept it on display as a matter of principle, which resulted in her arrest.

Our world is made up of lines, from comet tails to DNA. Every­ thing is  connected. Every­ thing is sequential. Every­ thing that moves, from a  snail to a lava flow leaves a line, a trace of passing. A line can be fate, a  commitment, a fact, a relationship, a place. Some lines are well trodden paths, some intersect, some pass at a distance, some return to their  origins. We all walk the line. We have an end and a beginning which  is joined to a much longer invisible line in the past and in the ­ future. —Anne Seymour in  Richard Long’s book Walking the Line , 2009, p. 9