India’s invisible workers - 5.4.2026

On this May1 Workers Day, we need to shine a light on India’s invisible workers

Neha Dixit’s recent work, “A People’s History of Invisible India,” lays bare a truth many would rather not see: the people who build, clean, stitch, carry, cook, and sustain this country remain unseen, unheard, and unprotected.

Behind India’s growth story are millions of informal workers with no contracts, no safety nets, and no legal recourse. Their labour is essential, yet their rights are treated as optional. They migrate without security, work without protections, and suffer without accountability from those who profit from their vulnerability.

This is not accidental neglect. It is a system that depends on invisibility. When workers are unseen, their exploitation becomes easier to justify, easier to ignore, and easier to continue.

Dixit’s reporting reminds us that worker rights are not a peripheral issue. They are a test of our democracy, our laws, and our moral compass. If those who hold up the economy cannot access dignity, safety, and justice, then the promise of development rings hollow.

It is time to bring invisible India into full view — not with sympathy, but with enforceable rights, policy change, and public attention that refuses to look away.

Israel ignores the ceasefire and continues its relentless killing in Gaza and Lebanon - 5.4.2026

Reports of renewed Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon and Gaza, alongside claims of expanded military control, point to a continuing collapse of ceasefire protections and international legal norms.

In Gaza, civilians continue to be killed and injured in densely populated areas already reduced to rubble. Among the reported tragedies is the killing of a mother while she held her infant child—an incident that reflects the extreme barbarity of the IDF under the leadership of convicted war criminal Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Families across Gaza and southern Lebanon are facing relentless bombardment, displacement, and severe shortages of food, water, and medical care. Entire communities are being pushed beyond survival conditions while diplomatic efforts fail to halt the violence.

International humanitarian law is clear: civilian life must be protected, and indiscriminate harm must not be tolerated.

The United States and the wider international community must move beyond statements of concern and press for an immediate and sustained ceasefire, full humanitarian access, and accountability for violations. Silence and delay carry real human consequences. While Hamas victims are routinely the subjects of stories of extreme trauma on US television, the same courtesy is not afforded to Palestinians.

Finally, we are witnessing the extermination of a whole population of Palestinians, which resembles the worst excesses of the Nazi regime. Holocaust victims must be weeping in their graves.

The coup we forgot that made Iran what it is - 5.4.2026

Before asking why Iran distrusts America, we should revisit what we did there.

In 1953, Central Intelligence Agency and MI6 helped overthrow Iran’s elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, after he nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The coup restored Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whose secret police, SAVAK, ruled through fear for decades.

That repression helped ignite the Iranian Revolution, ushering in the theocratic regime that still defines Iran’s politics and its hostility toward the United States.

History does not excuse Tehran’s actions today. But it explains the roots of mistrust far better than slogans about “irrational hatred.” Foreign interference crushed a young democracy for oil and geopolitical pride. The consequences have echoed for 70 years.

Now, as U.S. military action against Iran stretches past 60 days without clear congressional authorization, members of Congress from both parties are voicing concern about the War Powers Resolution and the constitutional role of the legislature in decisions of war and peace.

We cannot afford to repeat the arrogance that created this problem. Understanding 1953 is not about guilt. It is about wisdom. 

Israel continues its genocidal land grab policies - 5.4.2026

Despite a declared ceasefire, Israel has reportedly killed dozens in Lebanon and issued new displacement orders for southern towns. At the same time, flotilla activists seized in international waters are reportedly jailed, beaten, and abused. These are not isolated incidents. They echo a grim pattern: the forced removal of indigenous Palestinians in 1948 and the recurring use of displacement as a tool of war.

Around the world, growing numbers of people—faith leaders, legal scholars, humanitarian workers, and ordinary citizens—have voiced outrage at what they see as blatant killing and land-seizure policies carried out with impunity. Protests, petitions, and public statements across continents reflect a widening moral alarm at the human cost.

This conduct also contradicts core principles of Jewish religious law. The Torah commandment lo ta’amod al dam re’echa (“do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor,” Leviticus 19:16) forbids indifference to human harm. The repeated prohibition against oppressing the stranger commands protection for the vulnerable. And the principle of pikuach nefesh places the preservation of human life above nearly all else.

Policies that kill civilians, uproot families, and abuse detainees defy not only international law but the ethical foundations Judaism itself proclaims. A ceasefire that accompanies new expulsions is not peace. It is erasure by another name. 

The Agility Advantage: Why Big Militaries Are Losing Their Edge - 5.1.2026

Are we witnessing a modern version of David and Goliath in warfare?

A determined, smaller nation armed with swarms of inexpensive drones and missiles can now challenge far larger powers that still rely on exquisitely expensive, slower-to-replace hardware. Quantity, adaptability, and speed of innovation increasingly appear to offset traditional advantages of scale, industrial depth, and legacy systems.

This is not merely a question of technology, but of mindset. Are large militaries truly structured to be nimble, or are they still optimized for a previous era of conflict? When low-cost systems can potentially overwhelm high-cost defenses, the balance of power begins to shift in ways that are still not fully understood.

The lesson may be uncomfortable: agility, mass, and rapid iteration are becoming as decisive as advanced platforms. The central contest may no longer be between big and small, but between adaptable systems and rigid ones. 

Should God Still ‘Save’ a Comfortable King? Rethinking the UK Anthem in the Charles III Era - 4.30.2026

Debate over the UK anthem, God Save the King, has resurfaced as views on the monarchy evolve under Charles III.

A tongue-in-cheek take might go like this:

God save the King—though he seems quite fine,

In palaces grand on the public dime.

With ribbons to cut and speeches to read,

And very few urgent royal deeds.

One wonders, politely and rhetorically,

Should Heaven pause work so historically,

To rescue a crown that’s doing okay—

Or has God got busier things today?

Alternate to fossil fuels: the enemies of the planet - 4.30.2026

Why sunlight beats oil — a lesson from Hormuz

The recent oil shock triggered by the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz should be a wake-up call. As climate activist Bill McKibben rightly noted, “sunlight has to travel 93 million miles to reach the Earth, but none of those miles go through the Strait of Hormuz.” Solar and other renewables aren’t hostage to geopolitical chokepoints that can cripple global energy markets.

This moment reveals a stark truth: fossil fuel dependence undermines both our economy and our security. While oil prices spike and supply chains strain under conflict, clean energy technologies offer a resilient alternative that can’t be bottled up behind a narrow waterway. Investing in renewable power isn’t just good climate policy — it’s smart national and economic security.

Communities, utilities, and policymakers must embrace a rapid transition to clean energy, removing barriers to deployment, cutting unnecessary costs, and ensuring People around the world would benefit from a more stable, sustainable energy future. Let’s not wait for the next geopolitical crisis to force our hand.