Saving Earth the Hong Kong way on June 22, 2019Researchers at Stockholm University revealed in mid-June that nearly 600 plant species have gone extinct in the past two centuries at a ratenearly 500 times faster than nature taking its course. Their study is the latest in a string of research measuring the cost of human progress on the environment. Likewise, global warming watchdogs including […]
Invading Iran will ruin America on June 15, 2019A string of attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf over the last two months have raised temperatures in the Middle East to the point where some manner of armed conflict between the US and Iran appears inevitable. Indeed, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pulled no punches while publicly slamming Tehran in mid-June […]
Whither social equality? on June 10, 2019In this age of instant scholarship through the internet, there are few people more dangerous to informed debate than Canadian clinical psychologist-turned-“public thinker” Jordan Peterson. He self-admittedly holds no allegiance to any religion or political system, yet freely passes judgment on all of them. And to evade genuine academic scrutiny, he routinely caveats his comments […]
Watching the watchmen on June 4, 2019Historian Timothy Snyder wrote “If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power because there is no basis upon which to do so.” Consequently, when societies “abandon facts,” they also “abandon freedom.” Yet to simply paper over the growing problems of “fake news” and polarizing media with philosophical precepts would be a gross injustice […]
Why China cannot dominate the AI scene (for now) on May 1, 2019At a recent CEO forum hosted by a university in Ipoh, a gentleman representing Universal Music regionally spoke with wide-eyed wonder about the rapid strides China is making in cutting-edge technology. To illustrate his point, he used the example of beggary in Beijing that has apparently gone hi-tech. Today, street beggars in China use smart […]
The ‘freedom to fail’ is imperative for Asia’s future on April 9, 2019A CNN Business story from late March revealed China was still trailing the US in cutting-edge technology despite being home to a third of the world’s “unicorns,” or tech startups valued over a billion dollars. This gap, the article explains, is the result of lower Chinese investments in research and development. While this may be […]
Capitalism is not ‘under threat’ on March 16, 2019The former governor of India’s central bank and renowned financial wizard, Raghuram Rajan, issued a grim warning on BBC Radio 4 in mid-March that capitalism was “under serious threat” as it had “stopped providing for the many. “The “many,” in turn, would “revolt against capitalism” if the status quo remained unchanged. And as history testifies, […]
Western media’s distortion of Kashmir dispute on March 11, 2019The United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) estimates there are between 500,000 to 700,000 soldiersstationed in Indian-held Kashmir. Yet, reading theNew York Times’ (NYT) March 7editorial titled “India and Pakistan, ever on the edge”gives you the distinct impression this immense military force is patrolling the disputed statesolely to prevent a handful of Pakistani “militants” from […]
Indian act of war: beyondthe polls on March 3, 2019Fraying India-Pakistan ties threatened to rip apart at the seamson February 27 when Pakistani warplanes shot down an Indian Air Force jet that had crossed the Line of Control (LoC), thede-facto border, into Pakistan-administered Kashmir. This unprecedented incursion to strike so-called “militant camps” run by Jaish-e-Mohammed, the allegedly Pakistan-based terror group sworn to liberate Kashmir,came […]
Are we nearing the collapse of civilization? on February 27, 2019A fascinating late-February think-piece by Cambridge University researcher Luke Kemp for the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) “Future” series concluded we may be on the brink of civilization collapse, very likely of our own making. Citing a host of historical and anthropological sources in “Are we on the road to civilization collapse?”, Kemp suggests unless we […]