The fewer nuclear weapons there are, and the fewer countries with them, the better. That applies particularly to countries with governments given to attacking other countries, such as the USA, Russia, Israel, and Iran.
Well, yes and no. I'm all for nuclear disarmament, however, it seems the trajectory is now headed in the opposite direction again.
Iran, though, until the recent crisis, hasn't actually attacked any country since the Qajar dynasty, except in self-defense or retaliation.
Maybe Iran should create an A-bomb, nobody is attacking countries who have one.
As for the crazy mullahs 'argument': looking at the past 25 years of foreign policy, that doesn't really hold any water, especially when compared to US/UK/Israel.
Also, one should keep in mind that the Iranians and the US were sitting at the negotiating table in Geneva when Trump decided to attack them jointly with Israel. According to the Omani foreign minister, who doesn't have any interest in spinning things either way, they were close to reaching a deal. That was less than a month ago.
Trump says Herzog a 'liar, weak person, pathetic'
I know civility has gone out of the window a while ago, but I am still astonished how low the US has sunk. Also, does the Mossad have some dirt on him or what is all this about?
Thanks. I hope it's ok if I use this as no open thread:
Juergen Habermas has died. I doubt many people made it through "The Theory of Communicative Action" but his (and Apel's) discourse ethics were certainly influential when I studied philosophy. The idea that the better argument will eventually win out, together with Gadamer's principle of charity, i.e. assuming that your interlocutor is rational and possibly correct, seems strangely antiquated in these times.
I only ever read "The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity" and took away that Habermas tried to valiantly defend Kantian reason against various irrationalists and postmodernist upstarts - however, I wasn't really buying it, especially since he seemed to contradict his own maxims by not really trying to understand where, say, Foucault and Derrida were coming from.
His concept of "Verfassungspatriotismus" (patriotism based on the constitution) was a useful corrective to the nationalist and xenophobic tendencies in Germany.
Finally, he recently made some contentious remarks about Ukraine ("compromise") and Gaza ("Jewish lives are a priority") which exposed the limits of his universalism, a generational shift in German intellectual discourse and left a bit of a sour aftertaste. But then this just showed that even the most rational thinkers are children of their time.
I don't like Lebrecht's personality and business model - it seems like he fashions himself as the Hedda Hopper of the classical music world. However, I really liked his Mahler biography, he is certainly knowledgeable and hard-working and can be sensitive writer about music:
So the US attacked Iran because Israel was going to attack Iran and then Iran would attack the US which made it an imminent threat. I don't even know what to call this.
They are striking "targets" in the north of Tehran. These are busy residential neighbourhoods with schools, nurseries and restaurants. The residential palace and museums are located there. Wtf is wrong with these people?
The rationale is of course ridiculous. At least Bush tried to make a case in front of Congress and the UN (I never thought I would say anything positive about Bush but here we are ...)
GftNC, if you are saying that older men regularly slept with teenagers back then, I literally have no knowledge of that ever happening in the circles I grew up in. And I think that's perfectly compatible with your experience, since you seemingly grew up in a very different environment.
If you are saying that the representation of this power dynamic in the culture industry was more supportive and permissive then, you won't get any argument from me.
Chomsky being constitutional incapable of admitting he is/was in error.
Another common affliction, lol. Especially among 50+ men or so it seems.
many or most would see nothing remotely reprehensible about adult men sleeping with teenage girls ... If this does not apply to the right-on (as we used to say) men of ObWi, so much the more impressive.
I haven't seen anyone even remotely doing such things in the 70s. It may be an "elite" thing which kind of proves the point we're making here. (we were pretty normal).
And should anyone approach my daughter someday in this way I will not hesitate to show him what's what.
The Economist does manage some nice turns of phrase.
Lol, I haven't read the Economist in ages. I was to annoyed by every article ending with some call for neo-liberal deregulation as the solution to all our problems. Also, the fawning coverage of US administrations (Bush, not sure about Obama) was getting a bit ridiculous.
That said, they have some of the smartest writers and if you want to know what's going on in, say, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan or Malaysia right now, it's the right address.
Foucault, for all his manifest monstrosity, made important contributions to philosophy.
Are we talking about the gay leather, hardcore S/M Foucault - which is fine by me as long as consenting adults are concerned. Or the Foucault who according to several accounts of the time had sexually abused children in Tunisia (in a not uncommon post-imperial twist)? Which is of course not.
I'm afraid your argument that his contributions to philosophy - which I do recognise - might somehow be used as a counterweight in the moral calculus is at the heart of the problem currently being unravelled in France:
E.g., a figure like Matzneff would openly write about his pedophilia and be published for decades by Gallimard, the most prestitigous publishing house in France, his career supported by major writers and intellectuals. In the middle of this clip he is shown sitting in Bernard Pivot's "Apostrophes" - the major intellectual talk show of the time - talking about illegal acts with children and hiding behind the "art excuse". Everyone laughs it off and the one brave writer who challenges him was later vilified in the press.
There are numerous other examples where pedophilia and sexual abuse has either been legitimized altogether - ranging from Sartre/Beavouir et. al. in 1977 to Finkielkraut just recently- or artistic and intellectual achievement has been used to excuse or cover it up, e.g. Polanski, Haenel/Ruggia, Depardieu, Doillon etc.
As you can see, I am quite into French intellectual and cultural output, in fact it is one of my passions - but I am increasingly questioning much of the culture and society that it rests upon. I realise that all of this is catnip to the right who wants to roll-back the achievements of '68 and of course hates people they consider deviant, but still we have to face up to some uncomfortable truths.
I have to say that I am still shocked by the continuous revelations emerging from the Epstein files. It's almost as if we are ruled by an at best amoral, unaccountable elite not governed by any law. Call me crazy, but I had a bit more faith in our leadership before, though I think the whole thing started with Bush I.
As a sidenote: interesting and shocking what has been revealed in France since MeToo. The sense of entitlement and the sheer depravity of anyone from Foucault to Duhamel is just astounding.
Frederick Wiseman died. He was one of the great documentary filmmakers. I love his films - but then I love Rohmer, Barry Lyndon and Ceylan - i.e. long films where not much happens, lol.
On “Maybe time for an Open Thread”
Trump is a good and helpful member of the international community?
That's the most ridiculous statement I have read in a while - excepting the utterances of the narcissist in chief and his coterie of course.
But apart from that, it certainly doesn't apply to e.g. Nixon, Reagan and GW Bush either.
"
Iran attacks other countries by proxy.
By that definition the UK has beeb attacking Yemen for the past 11 years.
"
The fewer nuclear weapons there are, and the fewer countries with them, the better. That applies particularly to countries with governments given to attacking other countries, such as the USA, Russia, Israel, and Iran.
Well, yes and no. I'm all for nuclear disarmament, however, it seems the trajectory is now headed in the opposite direction again.
Iran, though, until the recent crisis, hasn't actually attacked any country since the Qajar dynasty, except in self-defense or retaliation.
"
Maybe Iran should create an A-bomb, nobody is attacking countries who have one.
As for the crazy mullahs 'argument': looking at the past 25 years of foreign policy, that doesn't really hold any water, especially when compared to US/UK/Israel.
"
Also, one should keep in mind that the Iranians and the US were sitting at the negotiating table in Geneva when Trump decided to attack them jointly with Israel. According to the Omani foreign minister, who doesn't have any interest in spinning things either way, they were close to reaching a deal. That was less than a month ago.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/19/us-lost-control-of-its-own-foreign-policy-oman-foreign-minister
On “A grammar lesson”
Oh and there is this:
Writing on Truth Social, he said that "with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party!"
It's all Carl Schmitt from here.
"
Trump says Herzog a 'liar, weak person, pathetic'
I know civility has gone out of the window a while ago, but I am still astonished how low the US has sunk. Also, does the Mossad have some dirt on him or what is all this about?
On “Don’t know the words, but the tune sounds the same”
thanks, nous
"
Thanks. I hope it's ok if I use this as no open thread:
Juergen Habermas has died. I doubt many people made it through "The Theory of Communicative Action" but his (and Apel's) discourse ethics were certainly influential when I studied philosophy. The idea that the better argument will eventually win out, together with Gadamer's principle of charity, i.e. assuming that your interlocutor is rational and possibly correct, seems strangely antiquated in these times.
I only ever read "The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity" and took away that Habermas tried to valiantly defend Kantian reason against various irrationalists and postmodernist upstarts - however, I wasn't really buying it, especially since he seemed to contradict his own maxims by not really trying to understand where, say, Foucault and Derrida were coming from.
His concept of "Verfassungspatriotismus" (patriotism based on the constitution) was a useful corrective to the nationalist and xenophobic tendencies in Germany.
Finally, he recently made some contentious remarks about Ukraine ("compromise") and Gaza ("Jewish lives are a priority") which exposed the limits of his universalism, a generational shift in German intellectual discourse and left a bit of a sour aftertaste. But then this just showed that even the most rational thinkers are children of their time.
On “Yuja Wang, networking, transactionality and that guy”
Indeed
"
I don't like Lebrecht's personality and business model - it seems like he fashions himself as the Hedda Hopper of the classical music world. However, I really liked his Mahler biography, he is certainly knowledgeable and hard-working and can be sensitive writer about music:
https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/classical-music-review-mahler-is-the-new-beethoven-critic-norman-lebrecht-argues-in-his-new-book-%E2%80%9Cwhy-mahler%E2%80%9D/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/sep/04/mahler-lebrecht-memoir-beethoven-ninth
On “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran”
So the US attacked Iran because Israel was going to attack Iran and then Iran would attack the US which made it an imminent threat. I don't even know what to call this.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/02/us-israel-war-iran-live-updates-attacks-strikes-tehran-lebanon-beirut-hezbollah-dubai-latest-news?page=with%3Ablock-69a5fa488f0863f6a3f000cf#block-69a5fa488f0863f6a3f000cf
On “As it all falls down around our ears: An open thread”
This has been planned for months:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/feb/28/israel-attacks-iran-as-blasts-heard-in-tehran-live-updates?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-69a2d2008f080cbafb285b9d#block-69a2d2008f080cbafb285b9d
"
Interestingly, the mediator from Oman spoke of a breakthrough in the talks just hours ago - another win for diplomacy...
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/02/28/mediator-oman-hails-breakthrough-in-us-iran-nuclear-talks_6750947_4.html
"
They are striking "targets" in the north of Tehran. These are busy residential neighbourhoods with schools, nurseries and restaurants. The residential palace and museums are located there. Wtf is wrong with these people?
The rationale is of course ridiculous. At least Bush tried to make a case in front of Congress and the UN (I never thought I would say anything positive about Bush but here we are ...)
"
Now I wake up to the news that they are bombing Tehran.
I urge the people in the US and Israel to rise up and overthrow their government's.
On “Perpwalk Imperial”
GftNC, if you are saying that older men regularly slept with teenagers back then, I literally have no knowledge of that ever happening in the circles I grew up in. And I think that's perfectly compatible with your experience, since you seemingly grew up in a very different environment.
If you are saying that the representation of this power dynamic in the culture industry was more supportive and permissive then, you won't get any argument from me.
"
Chomsky being constitutional incapable of admitting he is/was in error.
Another common affliction, lol. Especially among 50+ men or so it seems.
many or most would see nothing remotely reprehensible about adult men sleeping with teenage girls ... If this does not apply to the right-on (as we used to say) men of ObWi, so much the more impressive.
I haven't seen anyone even remotely doing such things in the 70s. It may be an "elite" thing which kind of proves the point we're making here. (we were pretty normal).
And should anyone approach my daughter someday in this way I will not hesitate to show him what's what.
On “Open Thread”
The Economist does manage some nice turns of phrase.
Lol, I haven't read the Economist in ages. I was to annoyed by every article ending with some call for neo-liberal deregulation as the solution to all our problems. Also, the fawning coverage of US administrations (Bush, not sure about Obama) was getting a bit ridiculous.
That said, they have some of the smartest writers and if you want to know what's going on in, say, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan or Malaysia right now, it's the right address.
What is their editorial stance now?
On “Perpwalk Imperial”
Foucault, for all his manifest monstrosity, made important contributions to philosophy.
Are we talking about the gay leather, hardcore S/M Foucault - which is fine by me as long as consenting adults are concerned. Or the Foucault who according to several accounts of the time had sexually abused children in Tunisia (in a not uncommon post-imperial twist)? Which is of course not.
I'm afraid your argument that his contributions to philosophy - which I do recognise - might somehow be used as a counterweight in the moral calculus is at the heart of the problem currently being unravelled in France:
E.g., a figure like Matzneff would openly write about his pedophilia and be published for decades by Gallimard, the most prestitigous publishing house in France, his career supported by major writers and intellectuals. In the middle of this clip he is shown sitting in Bernard Pivot's "Apostrophes" - the major intellectual talk show of the time - talking about illegal acts with children and hiding behind the "art excuse". Everyone laughs it off and the one brave writer who challenges him was later vilified in the press.
There are numerous other examples where pedophilia and sexual abuse has either been legitimized altogether - ranging from Sartre/Beavouir et. al. in 1977 to Finkielkraut just recently- or artistic and intellectual achievement has been used to excuse or cover it up, e.g. Polanski, Haenel/Ruggia, Depardieu, Doillon etc.
As you can see, I am quite into French intellectual and cultural output, in fact it is one of my passions - but I am increasingly questioning much of the culture and society that it rests upon. I realise that all of this is catnip to the right who wants to roll-back the achievements of '68 and of course hates people they consider deviant, but still we have to face up to some uncomfortable truths.
"
I have to say that I am still shocked by the continuous revelations emerging from the Epstein files. It's almost as if we are ruled by an at best amoral, unaccountable elite not governed by any law. Call me crazy, but I had a bit more faith in our leadership before, though I think the whole thing started with Bush I.
As a sidenote: interesting and shocking what has been revealed in France since MeToo. The sense of entitlement and the sheer depravity of anyone from Foucault to Duhamel is just astounding.
On “Open Thread”
I remember when Splatting Image was a thing.
"
I'm sorry to hear that, Hartmut. But the Fantasy Filmfest should be fun too.
"
Actually, Rohmer films aren't long.
"
Frederick Wiseman died. He was one of the great documentary filmmakers. I love his films - but then I love Rohmer, Barry Lyndon and Ceylan - i.e. long films where not much happens, lol.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/frederick-wiseman-dead-oscar-winning-documentarian-1236507046/
The Berlinale is on:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/berlin-film-festival/
I haven't had time to check out the program but this looks interesting:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/collapse-review-documentary-israel-gaza-palestine-1236503404/
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.