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Why Hannah Arendt is the Philosopher for Now

Lyndsey Stonebridge New Statesman America
The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), by Hannah Arendt, has much to teach us in our troubled times. In this essay, Lyndsey Stonebridge offers a fine overview of Arendt's life and times, and puts her classic study in its proper context.

Journalists Are Not the Enemy

The Boston Globe and 300 Newspapers Across the Country Boston Globe
A central pillar of President Trump’s politics is a sustained assault on the free press. Journalists are not classified as fellow Americans, but rather “the enemy of the people.” This relentless assault on the free press has dangerous consequences.

Israel Publishes BDS Blacklist: These Are the 20 Groups Whose Members Will Be Denied Entry - and their responses (long)

Noa Landau; Philip Weiss; Joyce Ajlouny; Rebecca Vilkomerson; Ariel Gold Portside
Leaders and members from twenty organizations will be barred entry into Israel. This also further isolates Palestine, since entry to Palestine is via Israel. One group, AFSC said: Our response to the Palestinian BDS call is in line with our similar support for divestment from apartheid South Africa and boycotts during the civil rights era." Here are statements from the banned groups: Joyce Ajlouny, Rebecca Vilkomerson and Ariel Gold.

Tidbits - January 11, 2018 - Reader Comments: Puerto Rican Foreclosures; Israel - Teens Refuse New Ban on BDS Supporters; Pensions; Second Amendment; Jim Crow history; Women's March 2018 - January 20; and more.....

Portside
Reader Comments: Puerto Rican Foreclosures; Israeli Teens Refuse Army; Israel Bans BDS Supporters; Worker Safety; Pension; Free Market; Settler Colonialism and the Second Amendment; Nuclear Testing; Pollution from U.S. Military Bases - in our country; U.S. history - Jim Crow South; Record Numbers Visit Cuba last year (from the U.S.); Women's March 2018 - January 20; Resources, Announcements; and more.....

books

Politics, Aesthetics and the War Against "Perfectionist Ideology" in Orwell in Orwell

David Trotter London Review of Books
Much Orwell criticism centers on his politics, not surprising given how it was his predominant subject. The books under review take a slight detour, viewing his work as he frequently judged others. Orwell's writing is chockablock with sensuous material, such as how class discriminations determine not just life chances but personal hygiene, or how bathos in an otherwise serious tract humanizes the literature and guards against "perfect" politics.
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