Dilip Simeon's blog

NB : The flag of 'freedom and democracy' is wearing a bit thin on Western shoulders. The list of criminal interventions on other countries + nuclear tests in the Pacific + war crimes is very long indeed. Vietnam (1963-75); Iran (1953); Bikini atoll and Marina islands; Chile (1973), Argentina (support of military dictators); wars in Iraq; long standing support for the apartheid regime in South Africa; support for Yahya Khans military genocide in Bangladesh (East Pakistan, 1970-71); the assassination of Mujibur Rehman - these a re just a few of the prominent examples. And their permanent alliance with the brutal Saudi Arabian regime shows that democracy is not exactly on top of their diplomatic agenda. As to the CIA involvement in the global heroin trade , the less said the better. Maybe the freedom to die of heroin addiction is included in the western list of liberties Meanwhile the totalitarian disdain for justice, human rights and truth has been exemplified by the Soviet (and ...

ROLAND BARTHES IN CHINA    (Simon Leys; re-published in his book of essays:  The Hall of Uselessness , 2014) Sed perseverare ...  (To err is human, (but) to persist is diabolical) IN APRIL and May of 1974, Roland Barthes made a trip to China with a small group of his friends from the review Tel Quel. This visit coincided with a colossal, bloody purge launched nation-wide by the Maoist regime. This was the famous and sinister “campaign of denunciation of Lin Biao and Confucius” (pi Lin pi Kong). Upon his return, Barthes published an article in Le Monde which offered a strangely jolly view of this totalitarian violence: “Its very name - Pilin-Pikong in Chinese - has the joyful tinkle of a sleigh-bell, and the campaign comprises made-up games: a caricature, a poem, a children’s sketch during which, suddenly, a little girl in make-up assails the ghost of Lin Biao between two ballet dances: the political Text (and it alone) gives rise to these little ‘happenings.’” At...

Vanessa Hua’s  Forbidden City  is narrated by a courageous, risk-taking sixteen-year-old whose life in a small village in China is up-ended when she is selected to join an elite dance troupe of young women trained in ballroom dancing to entertain Party leaders, including the Chairman. Hua’s is a fresh feminist take on the Cultural Revolution, an intriguing perspective on a complicated historic period still partially in the shadows. The Author of  Forbidden City  Talks to Jane Ciabattari Hua, a San Francisco  Chronicle  columnist, is also the author of the novel  A River of Stars  and a story collection  Deceit and Other Possibilities  Her honors include a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, and an NEA fellowship. Our email conversation took place during the week that supply chain issues which had delayed the novel’s publication twice were resolved. Jane Ciabattari:  How have you manage...

From 2017 to 2021, gas pipeline leaks averaged more than 200 a year. In most cases, leaking gas either ignites at the construction site or passes through a confined space underground and enters nearby premises before exploding.  For example, one of the most deadly accidents in recent years in terms of casualties was a gas explosion that occurred at a   community market   in the city of Shiyan, in Hubei province. On June 13, 2021, gas leaking from an underground pipe gathered under the market building. When the gas encountered a spark from the exhaust fume pipe of a restaurant, it ignited. The explosion killed 26 people, injured 138, and left the market in shambles.  Similar explosive accidents due to gas pipe leaks have occurred in hospitals, restaurants, and supermarkets... https://clb.org.hk/content/high-frequency-gas-accidents-threatens-safety-workers-across-industries More  posts on labour 1938: the year Indian workers fought for themselves China Labour Bull...